Node configuration details

Apply these configuration details to Lenovo Storage V7000 nodes to ensure that you have a valid configuration.

Host bus adapters and nodes

Type 100 node canisters contain:

Four ports for Fibre Channel connection
Two ports for 1 Gbps Ethernet connection

Type 300 node canisters contain:

Four ports for Fibre Channel connection
Two ports for 1 Gbps Ethernet connection
An HBA that provides two ports for 10 Gbps Ethernet connection

Volumes

Each node presents a volume to the SAN through Fibre Channel ports, FCoE ports, iSCSI ports, or SAS ports. Each volume is accessible from the two nodes in an I/O group. Each HBA port can recognize up to eight paths to each logical unit (LU) that is presented by the clustered system. The hosts must run a multi-pathing device driver before the multiple paths can resolve to a single device. You can use fabric zoning to reduce the number of paths to a volume that are visible by the host.

The number of paths through the network from an I/O group to a host must not exceed eight; configurations that exceed eight paths are not supported. Each node has four 8 Gbps Fibre Channel ports, two 10 G FCoE ports, and each I/O group has two nodes. Therefore, without any zoning, for Lenovo Storage^® V7000 model 300, the number of paths to a volume is 12 multiplied by the number of host ports.For Lenovo Storage V7000 model 100, there are eight paths per volume per host since it does not have two 10 GbE FCoE ports.

Increased connectivity across SAN fabrics

Lenovo Storage V7000 supports more than four Fibre Channel and FCoE ports per node with the following restrictions:

Systems with a combined total of more than four Fibre Channel and FCoE ports on a node must be running version 6.4.0 or later.
Systems with more than four total FC and FCoE ports cannot establish a remote copy partnership to another system at a version earlier than 6.4.0.
Systems at 6.4.0 or later in partnership to systems at an earlier version cannot add a node that results in more than four combined FC and FCoE ports. Activating more ports by enabling FCoE or installing new hardware on existing nodes in the system is also not allowed.

To resolve these limitations, you must update the software on the remote system to 6.4.0 or later or disable the additional hardware by using the chnodehw -legacy CLI command.

Optical connections

Valid optical connections are based on the fabric rules that the manufacturers impose for the following connection methods:

Host to a switch
Back end to a switch
Inter-switch links (ISLs)

Optical fiber connections can be used between a node and its switches.

Systems that use the intersystem Metro Mirror and Global Mirror feature can use optical fiber connections between the switches, or they can use distance-extender technology that is supported by the switch manufacturer.

Ethernet connection

To ensure system failover operations, adhere to these requirements:

Ethernet port 1 on all nodes must be connected to the same set of subnets. If used, Ethernet port 2 on all nodes must also be connected to the same set of subnets. However, the subnets for Ethernet port 1 do not have to be the same as Ethernet port 2.
When a 10 Gbps Ethernet adapter is installed, there are four Ethernet ports. The 1 Gbps Ethernet ports are numbered 1 and 2, and the 10 Gbps Ethernet ports are numbered ports 3 and 4. Only the 1 Gbps Ethernet ports can be used for configuration or management. Either the 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps Ethernet ports can be used for iSCSI connections.

Fibre Channel connection

Lenovo Storage V series supports shortwave and longwave Fibre Channel connections between Lenovo Storage V series nodes and the switches that they are connected to.

To avoid communication between nodes that route across interswitch links (ISLs), connect all Lenovo Storage V series nodes to the same Fibre Channel or FCF switches.

No ISL hops are permitted among the Lenovo Storage V series nodes within the same I/O group. However, no more than three ISL hops are permitted among Lenovo Storage V series nodes that are in the same system though different I/O groups. If your configuration requires more than three ISL hops for Lenovo Storage V series nodes that are in the same system but in different I/O groups, contact your Lenovo service representative.

Avoid communication between nodes and storage systems that are being routed across ISLs. To do so, connect all storage systems to the same Fibre Channel or FCF switches as the Lenovo Storage V series nodes. One ISL hop between the Lenovo Storage V series nodes and the storage systems is permitted. If your configuration requires more than one ISL, contact your Lenovo service representative.

In larger configurations, it is common to have ISLs between host systems and the Lenovo Storage V series nodes.

Port speed

Fibre Channel ports on node canisters can operate at 2 Gbps, 4 Gbps, or 8 Gbps.