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BP1037 Transitioning to DCB with EqualLogic PS series Storage Solutions 13
Figure 5 Sample enterprise iSCSI solution with DCB
3.4 EqualLogic DCB support
For EqualLogic environments using DCB over a shared network infrastructure, support for PFC, ETS
and iSCSI TLV are required. For FCoE, it is easy for the network to assign a higher priority to its frames,
as they have a separate EtherType. For iSCSI however, the end station needs to know how to identify
iSCSI frames from the other non-iSCSI TCP/IP traffic. The iSCSI TLV identifies what TCP port iSCSI
traffic is using, so that the end station can properly assign the desired class of service. Once a class of
service has been assigned, PFC and ETS can manage the iSCSI traffic throughout DCB shared network
infrastructure.
EqualLogic PS Series 10Gb arrays automatically configure ETS and PFC settings provided by the DCB
network infrastructure to which they are attached. As befits our ease of use goals around any design
feature added to the EqualLogic PS series family, iSCSI TLV provides a “hands-off” method of
configuring PS Series arrays to use a DCB network infrastructure, thus ensuring accurate array
configuration and minimizing errors that are prevalent in manual network and array configuration
methods.
With the release of the EqualLogic Array Software 5.1.1, used in conjunction with the appropriate host
connectivity and switching products, EqualLogic PS Series customers now have the ability to deploy
their storage into DCB converged data center networks. By using this new set of standards,
EqualLogic iSCSI storage can now be deployed into shared networks without concern for quality of
service while gaining near “lossless” packet delivery. Dell EqualLogic is one of the first storage vendors
to support Enterprise iSCSI over DCB.