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3-Tier Platform Design Guide
Introduction Solution design and key components Cisco UCS-managed compute layer Cisco Intersight-managed compute layer Network layer Storage layer Data protection and replication Management and virtualization
Management and virtualization
Introduction
Design principles Supported management solutions
Management components
Compute specifications Storage Bill of materials Network Logical network topologies
iSCSI shared storage design
Management tools
Windows Server Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance Secure Connect Gateway
Virtualization
VMware vSphere Authentication
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Patch management Data stores Virtual volumes vSphere Distributed Switch LAN traffic network configuration Virtual networks vSphere VLAN names and values
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Managing multiple 3-Tier Platforms
Distributed management
Distributed management for storage Distributed management for virtualization
Solution configuration and specifications References

iSCSI shared storage design

Home > Integrated Products > VxBlock 1000 and 3-Tier Platform Reference Architectures > Guides > 3-Tier Platform Design Guide > iSCSI shared storage design

iSCSI shared storage design

  • The shared storage design uses Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) for single-system and multisystem management solutions. The solutions have the following iSCSI characteristics:

    • Dell Unity XT with 10BASE-T connectivity accesses block storage using iSCSI. The Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P management switch provides connectivity that is based on 10BASE-T on each SP and is connected to the management switch ports.
    • Dell Unity XT with optical connectivity storage accesses block storage using iSCSI. The Cisco Nexus 92348GC-X management switch provides connectivity that is based on optical 25 GbE ports, using the mezzanine adapter on each SP that is connected to the management switch uplink ports.
    Note: The Cisco Nexus 92348GC-X switch does not support iSCSI connections on the downlink ports due to a port speed limit of 1 GbE.

    The connectivity to the management switches is:

    • SPA even ports - switch A
    • SPA odd ports - switch B
    • SPB even ports - switch B
    • SPB odd ports - switch A

    The iSCSI network design is based on the following Dell and VMware best practices:

    • VMware vSphere ESXi setting for Delayed Ack is disabled.
    • iSCSI is Layer 2.
    • Switch ports are set to access mode.
    • Jumbo frames are enabled.
    • Unity XT with 10BASE-T connectivity uses the following IP address subnet range assignments:
      • /28 subnets within the iSCSI VLAN for data traffic between Dell Unity XT and VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.
      • One subnet for up to two servers for single system and multisystem management.
      • Round-robin assignments for servers across Unity XT front-end storage ports.
      • Two iSCSI VMkernel ports on each host per subnet and one per NIC uplink.
      • Up to two hosts may connect to a pair of iSCSI array ports for single system and multisystem management. For example, hosts 1 and 11 map to the SPA ETH 2 and SPB ETH2 pair.
    • Unity XT with 25 GbE optical connectivity uses the following IP address subnet range assignments:
      • /28 subnets within the iSCSI VLAN for data traffic between Unity XT and VMware vSphere ESXi.
      • One subnet for up to three servers for single-system and multisystem management.
      • Round-robin assignments for servers across Unity XT front-end storage ports.
      • Two iSCSI VMkernel ports on each host per subnet and one per NIC uplink.

    Up to three hosts can connect to a pair of iSCSI array ports for single-system and multisystem management. For example, hosts 1, 3, and 5 map to the SPA mezzanine port 2 and SPB mezzanine port 2 pair.