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PowerScale: Network Design Considerations
Executive summary Network architecture design Latency, bandwidth, and throughput Ethernet flow control SyncIQ considerations Quality of Service (QoS) Software-Defined Networking
Software-Defined Networking
PowerScale OneFS ports SmartConnect considerations Ethernet, MTU, and IP overhead Access Zones best practices Source-Based Routing considerations Isilon 6th generation 1 GbE interfaces Intelligent Platform Management Interface IPv6 OneFS host-based firewall Network troubleshooting Appendix A: Supported network optics and transceivers Appendix B: Technical support and resources

Software-Defined Networking

Software-Defined Networking

  • Software-Defined Networking (SDN) provides automated policy-based management of network architecture. The management and administration are centralized by separating the control and data planes. SDN architectures include a controller functioning as a central point of management and automation. The controller is responsible for relaying information downstream to firewalls, routers, switches, and access points. On the contrary, the controller sends information upstream to applications and orchestration frameworks, all while presenting the SDN architecture as a single device.

    Datacenters that have an SDN architecture and a PowerScale cluster must have traditional access switches connected to PowerScale nodes, presenting a traditional network architecture to OneFS.

    Figure 7.   PowerScale and Software-Defined Networking

    The SDN implementation of each vendor is unique and is critical to understanding the scalability and limitations of a specific architecture. Some of the SDN implementations are based on open standards like OpenFlow, while other vendors use a mix of proprietary and open standards, and others use a completely proprietary implementation. Reviewing the limits of a specific implementation is essential to understanding how to maximize performance. If a PowerScale cluster is configured for use with SDN through a traditional access switch, consider the following information and recommendations:

    • OneFS does not support VRFs and VXLANs. An intermediary solution is required for implementing VLAN to VXLAN mapping.
    • Understand the control plane scalability of each SDN implementation and if it would affect OneFS.
    • The MTU implementation for each vendor varies. Ensure consistent MTUs across all network hops.
    • Each switch vendor provides a different set of SDN capabilities. Mapping differences is key to developing a data center architecture to include a PowerScale cluster while maximizing network performance.
    • Not only is each vendor's capability unique when it comes to SDN, but the scalability of each solution and cost varies significantly. The intersection of scalability and cost determines the architecture limits.
    • Because each SDN implementation varies, consider the impacts on the automation and policy-driven configuration. These impacts are one of the significant advantages of SDN. Also, consider the automation interactions with Isilon PAPI.