5.6.x HP X9000 Series Network Storage System Installation Guide (TA768-96056, December 2011)

6 Network best practices for X9300 and X9320 systems
The X9300 series storage appliances can use three networks for operation: the cluster network,
user network, and management network. During the initial installation and setup of the storage
appliance, it is configured for a 1GbE network or a 10GbE network in accordance with the best
practices described in this chapter.
NOTE: HP recommends that you use the agile management console configuration. The dedicated
standard management console configuration will be deprecated in the next release of the storage
appliance and the agile management console will become the default configuration. CIFS user
management is also not possible with the dedicated standard management console configuration.
NOTE: The IP addresses used in this chapter are examples only.
Networks
Cluster network
The cluster network is a private network used to manage the system as a unified cluster. Cluster
membership, health monitoring, strategic data movement, and private back-channel communications
occur over this network. NAS data services that are exposed to client systems, such as NFS and
CIFS, do not take place over the cluster network. The cluster network must be operational at all
times for the system to be online and functional. All file serving nodes in the X9000 cluster must
be connected to the cluster network. For 1GbE configurations, HP strongly recommends that the
cluster network be configured as a private network that is separate from the user data-serving
network. For 10GbE configurations, HP recommends that the cluster network and user network be
collapsed into a single network.
User network
The user network provides client systems access to the file system through the supported file access
protocols such as NFS, CIFS, FTP, HTTP, and X9000 Clients. This is the only network visible to
client systems. All client access, including system administration, is through the user network.
Background data services such as remote replication are also performed over the user network.
All file serving nodes in the X9000 cluster must be connected to the user network.
Management network
The management network is used for iLO and MSA network connectivity and management. This
network is shared with the cluster network for 1GbE configurations.
Configuring a 1GbE network
The following logical network diagram shows a system using a 1GbE network.
62 Network best practices for X9300 and X9320 systems