Users Guide

38 Storage Solutions Guide
Appendix A: Planning for iSCSI-Based Storage
Area Networks (SAN)
Use the following best practices to enhance performance and high availability
in the Hyper-V server, the networking environment, and iSCSI traffic.
Physical Server Hosting Hyper-V
• Use a minimum of two network adapters for high availability. If possible,
the adapters selected should not reside on the same physical adapter. For
example, one adapter may be from the LAN on motherboard (LOM) and
the other may be from an add-in network card.
• Configure multipathing for high availability. For more information, see the
whitepaper
Creating Multipath Connections to Dell iSCSI Storage Arrays
at
www.dell.com/TechCenter .
NOTE: Multipathing is provided through MPIO. Teaming of network adapters
that will be utilized for iSCSI traffic is not supported.
• Use dedicated NICs for iSCSI traffic. NICs should not be shared with
other network traffic (management, general network traffic, etc).
To provide a sufficient level of security and segregation, consider isolating
iSCSI infrastructure on a dedicated storage network (or separating the
shared environment with VLANs), as well as applying authentication and
encryption methods, such as CHAP and IPSec.
• For network adapters that are utilized for iSCSI traffic:
– Do not create virtual networks on the network adapters
– Enable flow control
– Enable jumbo frames
iSCSI Network Switches
• Connect iSCSI switches in a reliable and redundant manner. Use multiple
cables and switch trunking to create a high-bandwidth link between
multiple switches when used. Use of a single cable may result in a b
ottle-
neck
for the Hyper-V environment, negatively affecting performance of the
storage subsystem.
• Enable Flow Control on each switch port used for iSCSI traffic.