Hardware manual

Group Administration Group members
6–8
Recommendation: For high availability and performance, Dell recommends that you configure multiple network
interfaces and use redundant network switches.
Note: Some co
ntrol module types include a network interface that can be used only in a dedicated management
network.
Member network requirements and recommendations
The minimum network requirement for a group member is one functioning network interface with the following
characteristics:
• Located on the active control module
• Connected to the network
• Configured with an IP address and netmask (at least one ne
tw
ork interface on a member must be on the same
subnet as the group IP address)
• Enabled
When you add a member to a group, you configure a network interfa
ce with an IP addres
s and netmask and enable
the interface (typically, Ethernet 0).
Warning: The minimum network configuration is a single-point-of-failure configuration. A network interface
failure
, control module failure, or network or switch failure causes the member and any volumes with
data to go offline until you correct the problem. If it is the only member in the group, the group
becomes inaccessible from the network.
To increase performance and availability
, Dell recommends
that you expand the minimum network configuration
as follows:
• Configure redundant network connections. See Configuring redundant network connections.
• Configure redundant control module
s
. See Configuring redundant control modules.
• Configure redundant network switches. See Configuring redundant network switches.
See the Har
dware Maintenance
manual for your array model for network configuration details.
Configuring redundant network connections
Redundant network connections protect against network interface failure and increase performance (network
bandwidth). If a network interface fails or you disconnect it, another interface can continue to service I/O requests.
1. Connect two or more network interfaces on the active control mo
dule to the network.
2. Configure the interfaces (assign an IP address and netmas
k and enable each interface). See Configuring
network interfaces.
Configuring redundant control modules
Redundant control modules protect against control module failure by enabling control module failover. If the active
control module fails, the secondary control module takes over and becomes active.