Hardware manual

Group Administration Group configuration

5–4

Setting the time through an NTP server

You can specify that the group use up to three external Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers to automatically set

the same time for all the group members. The group uses one NTP server at a time and the first listed server is the

default server. The group uses the other servers, in the order specified, if the default server is not available.

Requirement: The NTP s

erver must be accessible to all the group members.

Recommendation: If you are usin

g a dedicated management network, Dell recommends that the NTP server be

on the same subnet as the dedicated management network.

1. Click

Group Configuration, then General tab.

2. Click

Add under NTP servers in the Date and Time panel.

3. Enter the IP address for an NTP server. Use the

ip_address:port format to specify a port number other than

the default, 123, then click

OK.

4. [Optional] Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add more NTP servers. Yo

u can specify up to three NTP servers. Use the

arrows to move a server up or down in the list.

Changing or deleting an NTP server

On the Date and Time panel under NTP servers, select the IP address and click Modify or Delete.

If the group time changes (which means you manually modified it or the NTP server time ch

anged), the

synchronization operation can take as long as 24 hours if the time changes by an hour or more.

Expanding group capacity

To expand PS Series group capacity and increase performance, you can add new members (arrays) to the group,

with no disruption to SAN storage users:

1. Install the new array hardware and connect th

e array to the network. Make sure you connect the array to the

iSCSI network.

2. Use the

setup utility or the Remote Setup Wizard to configure the array as a group member. You need:

• Group name and group IP address for the group that you want to join.

• Group membership password.

• IP address for a network interface on the new array (usually, Ethernet 0), in addi

tion to the netmask and

default gateway for the iSCSI network. You must connect the network interface to the network.

See the Installation and Setup man

ual for your array model for details.

3. Perform the post-setup member tasks. See Common group tasks.

Note: If you configured a dedicated management network in the group, you must configure the highest-

mbered network interface on the management network. See About dedicated management networks

(advanced).