Owner's Manual

18
Cabling EqualLogic iSCSI Storage System
Host servers can be attached to the Dell EqualLogic PS5000XV iSCSI array
through an IP storage area network (SAN) industry-standard Gigabit Ethernet
switch. "Recommended Network Configuration" on page 18 shows the
recommended network configuration for a dual control module PS5000XV array.
This configuration includes two Dell PowerConnect 6200 series Gigabit Ethernet
switches, to provide highest network availability and maximum network
bandwidth. Dell recommends using two Gigabit Ethernet switches because in
the event of a switch failure in a single Ethernet switch environment, all hosts
will lose access to the storage until the switch is physically replaced and the
configuration restored. In such a configuration, there should be multiple ports
with link aggregation providing the inter-switch, or trunk, connection. Further,
from each of the control modules, Dell recommends connecting one Gigabit
interface to one Ethernet switch, and connecting the other two Gigabit
interfaces to the other Ethernet switch.
Figure 8. Recommended Network Configuration
Figure 9 is an architecture overview of a sample Oracle RAC configuration
with three PS5000XV arrays. The blue colored cables denote the iSCSI SAN. The
gray colored cables denote the Oracle RAC private interconnect network. The
black colored cables denote the public network. The PS5000XV storage arrays
provide the physical storage capacity for the Oracle RAC database.