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Prior to OE 4.2.1, only ports belonging to the same I/O modules or onboard Ethernet ports could be used in a link aggregation. Starting with OE 4.2.1, link aggregations can be created with ports between I/O modules and the onboard Ethernet ports (see Figure 6). This requirement was added to provide greater flexibility and options to configure high availability in Unity NAS server connectivity. All ports in the link aggregation must have the same speed, MTU, and duplex setting.
The Unity ports configured in a link aggregate must be cabled to switch interfaces that are configured as a port channel (see Figure 21 or Figure 52).
Link aggregations can be defined across two, three, or four ports, on the same card or I/O modules, or between the card and I/O modules within the same SP. Ports in that configuration must have the same speed, duplex, and MTU. For more information, see the Unity documentation.
Link aggregations need to be created before specifying them when configuring a Unity NAS server.
Note: Dell Technologies recommends using two TOR switches for redundancy. The lab used for this paper used only a single TOR switch.
When a link aggregate interface is configured in Unisphere, the candidate ports for the link aggregate must be cabled and configured in both SP A and SP B. The candidate ports must be cabled to the appropriate port channels on the Ethernet switch (see Figure 21).
The following figures show three link aggregations (Ocp 0 0, Iom 1 0, and Iom 1 2). Each of the link aggregations is mirrored on both SP A and SP B.
The mirrored link aggregations are necessary because, in failover, the peer SP uses the ports residing on the peer SP that mirror the ports being used on the primary SP.
The number of switch interfaces required for a Unity link aggregate is double the number of interfaces in the Unity link aggregate. If a Unity link aggregate contains two interfaces, four switch interfaces are required: two switch interfaces for the two interfaces in SP A and two switch interfaces for the two interfaces in SP B. Figure 52 shows the interface mappings between Unity link aggregated interfaces and the Ethernet switch port channels used in this paper.
Note: Dell Technologies recommends using two TOR switches for redundancy. The lab used for this paper used only a single TOR switch. Using one switch is not recommended.
To configure Unity link aggregations, perform the following steps in Unisphere:
The Create Link Aggregation wizard displays the new link aggregation.
By default, the link aggregate is created with MTU 1500. Oracle recommends using Jumbo frames (MTU 9000). See section Jumbo frames for additional information.
Repeat the above steps as necessary to create additional link aggregations. Figure 53 shows the three link aggregations used in this paper.
After a link aggregation is created, it can be used as a NAS server network interface. For information about creating a NAS server and assigning a link aggregation as the interface, see Creating a NAS server and adding a link aggregation network interface.
If NFS control traffic will flow through a bonded NFS client (database server) NIC interface and a link aggregate in Dell Unity storage, Ethernet switch ports must use LACP.
Figure 54 illustrates an example of switch interfaces and port channels in a Dell Networking S5000 switch cabled to the Unity array. The port channels will be used for NFS control traffic. Port channel 1 will be used for Dell Unity SP module A and port channel 2 will be used for Dell Unity SP module B.
Figure 55 illustrates an example of multiple port channels. Port channels 1, 3, and 5 are configured for SP A. Port channels 2, 4, and 6 are configured for SP B. While SP A is healthy, NFS control traffic flows through port channel 1 and dNFS data traffic flow though port channels 3 and 5. On failure of SP A, NFS control traffic will flow through port channel 2 and dNFS data traffic will flow through port channels 4 and 6.