IBM DS3500

Fibre Channel connections: The storage subsystem Fibre Channel connection
consists of up to two host Fibre Channel loops. The host Fibre Channel loops
provide the fibre path for host attachment. They can consist of Fibre Channel
cables, SFP modules, host bus adapters, Fibre Channel switches, and RAID
controllers.
Fibre Channel host loop configurations: You must determine how the host
systems will connect to the storage subsystem. You can connect up to two host
systems directly to the storage subsystem. The illustrations in the following sections
show common host system configurations.
Redundant host loops: This section provides examples of host Fibre Channel
configurations.
Host Fibre Channel configurations: This section provides the following examples of
host Fibre Channel configurations.
v Single SAN fabric configuration, as shown in Figure 54 on page 58
v Dual SAN fabric configuration, as shown in Figure 55 on page 58
v Two storage subsystems in a dual SAN fabric configuration, as shown in
Figure 56 on page 59
Note: These configurations have host and drive path failover protection and are
recommended for high availability.
In Figure 54 on page 58, the Fibre Channel switches are connected together
through the Inter-Switch Link (ISL) to form a single SAN fabric.
Host system
with dual host
adapters
DS3500
Host system
with dual host
adapters
Figure 53. Dual-controller direct-attached Fibre Channel connections to multiple HBAs in
multiple hosts
Chapter 3. Cabling the storage subsystem and expansion enclosure 57