Dell PowerVault MD3200i Series - IP SAN Network Infrastructure for Performance

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays
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means that the storage array avoids network congestion with other non-storage traffic that is using the
network.
• CHAP
To have secure access between your host and storage array, enable target and mutual
CHAP authentication on the hosts and storage arrays. Follow standard CHAP password
guidelines for best security. Set a strong password that meets standard IT guidelines on
all of the devices in your IP SAN.
• Virtual LAN (VLAN)
If you want to physically isolate your IP SAN data traffic from general network traffic,
use VLANs. Turn on VLAN tagging on the Dell PowerVault MD3200i storage array. A port
can either transmit all tagged IP packets or all non-tagged IP packets.
Note: You must enable a VLAN throughout the entire iSCSI SAN from the network interface
cards (NICs) and switches to the iSCSI ports; otherwise, behavior might be inconsistent.
To simplify and avoid troubleshooting at deployment, make sure that the NICs,
switches, and storage array are fully operational before you enable the VLAN feature
for the entire solution.
IP SAN Network Infrastructure for Performance
This section describes some general implementation guidelines for performance. These guidelines
might not apply to all applications. Review your application requirements prior to implementing these
guidelines.
General Network Practices
Make sure the category rating for the cables used is gigabit-Ethernet-compliant (CAT5e or CAT6).
Design your network to have the least amount of hops between the storage arrays and the servers. This
design greatly reduces the failure points, it simplifies the manageability, and it reduces the latency
and complexity of your network architecture (particularly in the area of redundancy).
Use managed switches because they provide advance features to help you optimize and maintain your
network for your application. Only use auto-negotiation because gigabit Ethernet networks are
designed to always have auto-negotiation enabled. If a particular application requires a specific speed
or duplex mode, you can accomplish this by changing the advertisement options of the switch.