Connecting Fibre Channel cables to a Fibre Channel host interface adapter

If your Lenovo Storage V series system has 16 Gbps Fibre Channel 4-port host interface adapters installed, you can use Fibre Channel cables to connect them to your Fibre Channel SAN.

To install the cables, complete the following steps.

  1. Connect the required number of Fibre Channel cables.
    Refer to Planning network cable connections for instructions to determine the number of required cables.
    Note: Both canisters must have the same number of cables connected.
    Figure 1 shows an example Lenovo Storage V3700 V2 XP system with two Fibre Channel cables connected to each canister.
    Figure 1. Example Lenovo Storage V series configuration with two Fibre Channel cables per canister
    Rear view image of a Lenovo Storage V3700 V2 XP control enclosure with two Fibre Channel cables per canister

  2. If you want to connect additional Fibre Channel cables, make sure to connect the same number of cables to each canister.
    Figure 2 shows an example Lenovo Storage V3700 V2 XP configuration with four Fibre Channel cables connected to each canister.
    Figure 2. Example Lenovo Storage V3700 V2 XP configuration with four Fibre Channel cables per canister
    Rear view image of a Lenovo Storage V3700 V2 XP control enclosure rear view with four Fibre Channel cables per canister

  3. If a control enclosure is already installed, you can optionally add Fibre Channel connections between all the control enclosures.
    • This involves both the physical installation of the cables and configuring the correct zoning on the Fibre Channel switches.
    • Configure the network so that every node canister has at least two connections to every node canister in a different control enclosure.
    • You must configure the network before you attempt to add a control enclosure to an existing system.