Deployment Guide

Cabling Your Cluster Hardware 27
Cabling the Cluster in Network-Attached Redundant Configuration
In the network-attached redundant configuration, each cluster node attaches
to the storage system using redundant IP storage area network (SAN)
industry-standard 1 Gb Ethernet switches, and either with one dual-port
iSCSI NIC or two single-port iSCSI NICs. If a component fails in the storage
path such as the iSCSI NIC, the cable, the switch, or the storage controller,
the multipath software automatically re-routes the I/O requests to the
alternate path so that the storage array continues to operate without
interruption. The configuration with 2 single-port NICs provides higher
availability; a NIC failure does not cause Microsoft Failover Cluster to move
cluster resources to the other cluster node.
This configuration can support up to 16 hosts simultaneously and requires
dual controller modules. Examples of this configuration are:
• One cluster up to eight nodes (applicable for Windows Server 2003 &
Windows Server 2008).
• One cluster up to sixteen nodes (applicable for Windows Server 2008 x64
only).
• Two eight-node clusters (applicable for Windows Server 2003 & Windows
Server 2008).
• One eight-node clusters, one two-node cluster, and one standalone system
(applicable for Windows Server 2003 & Windows Server 2008).
To cable the cluster:
1
Connect the storage system to the iSCSI network:
a Install a network cable from switch 1 to controller 0 port In-0.
b Install a network cable from switch 1 to controller 1 port In-0.
c Install a network cable from switch 2 to controller 0 port In-1.
d Install a network cable from switch 2 to controller 1 port In-1.
2 Connect the cluster to the iSCSI network:
a Install a network cable from the cluster node 1 iSCSI NIC 1 (or NIC
port 1) to the network switch 1.
b Install a network cable from the cluster node 1 iSCSI NIC 2 (or NIC
port 2) to the network switch 2.
c Repeat step aand b for each additional node.
book.book Page 27 Tuesday, April 15, 2008 12:30 PM