StorTrends Alias Configuration Guide

Networking

Networking is one of the most important pieces of an infrastructure. Always make sure that there is not one point of failure within the network from the StorTrends appliance to any and all servers that will be connected to it. This guide is intended to be a generalization, so StorTrends has a wide array of guides to give the best practices for detailed configurations such as Microsoft® MCS, MPIO and teaming.

Network Teaming Considerations

The count of individual initiators for the target(s) is very important in scoping the potential throughput for an array. Each server should have more than one network interface to prevent disconnection from a failure from a switch, cable or NIC. The network configuration that is put into place now should take into consideration the future more than the current environment. In general, the best configurations for each selection are below (10g = 10x throughput; max 2 per controller). Suggested configurations are green (best) and yellow depending on the particular infrastructure that the StorTrends appliance is being installed into: 2 Network Interfaces (2 per controller) 4 Network Interfaces (4 per controller) In order to properly configure array up front, please review the tables above to find the most similar environment to you and then follow the corresponding physical topology below.  Once everything is physically configured, you will be stepped through a network wizard within the StorTrends array to set the NIC teaming and IPs.

StorTrends Dual-controller SAN Considerations

Configuration: Each interface on each controller must match each other. This means that if NIC-1 on the left controller is on network 10.11.1.x, then NIC-1 on the right controller must be on the same network. Performance: Active / Active configurations with the corresponding interfaces per controller will double the effective throughput above including 10g configurations. Functionality: Round Robin teaming (depending on the switch) usually requires trunking or EtherChannel to be configured on the ports.  Safely configure trunking if using this type of teaming. If choosing to use 802.3ad teaming, it requires the ports to be trunked or LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) enabled.

Controller Page

Controller Page

StorTrends Dual-controller SAN Considerations

Configuration: Each interface on each controller must match each other. This means that if NIC-1 on the left controller is on network 10.11.1.x, then NIC-1 on the right controller must be on the same network. Performance: Active / Active configurations with the corresponding interfaces per controller will double the effective throughput above including 10g configurations.

Setting up Network Interfaces

Upon receiving your StorTrends SAN, you will notice a few stickers on the handles of the controllers on the back of the SAN. Each controller will be labeled as “Left” or “Right” and it will also have a label for a default static IP that has been preconfigured on NIC-1 of each controller on the SAN as a means of easily getting the SAN configured. The screenshot below illustrates an example of what you should see: You may utilize either of these IPs to access your SAN. By default, we use the Left Controller as the main controller, so we utilize that IP in our example. You may either hook up a laptop to the same switch that NIC-1 of each controller is hooked up and give a temporary static IP to your laptop that falls within the same subnet as the label on the controller’s handle (keep in mind that the subnet that is preconfigured is 255.255.255.0) or you may temporarily change the IP and subnet of one of your servers running on that switch to match the IP subnet on the label. Once your IP has been set, open up your web browser of choice and input the IP on the label into the URL bar. You should come to screen similar to the below:

The default password for the user “itxadmin” is “password”. Once logged in, you will come to your first wizard, the Email Alert Wizard. You may either configure this now or skip it and configure it later. The next wizard you will come to will be the Quick Network Configuration Wizard, as seen below: From here you have two options – you can create a network team (from the options shown in the first section of this guide) or you may proceed without configuring a team. For the purposes of this guide, we will configure a port that will be used for management of the SAN (not required) then come back and configure a team on an iSCSI subnet. Choose “Network Configuration Only” and click “Next”. On the next page, you will notice where I have selected NIC1 and have configured IPs for the Left and Right Controller as well as a subnet mask, gateway, DNS server, and DNS suffix: You will need to fill this out to fit your needs for the management port. Once you have filled in the required information, click on “Next” to move on to the next page. On the next page you will find boxes for a virtual IP (also known as an alias) for both controllers. Enter an IP from the same subnet for both controllers and then click “Next”. You will be brought to a review page that shows you everything you are getting ready to configure. If everything looks correct, click on “Finish” to commit your changes. Once the aliases are committed, you should be redirected back to the login screen, this time from the alias IP of the Left Controller that you just set. This will be the IP you will use for managing your SAN.

Log back in and you will come to the main page that you will see every time you log in.

If you take a look at the navigation tree on the left hand side, you will see a section titled “Configuration Wizard” with an option for “Alias/Virtual IP Wizard”. Click on that wizard to start the process to create a network team on your iSCSI subnet. You will be taken to the Network Configuration Wizard. Choose the first option to create a team and click “Next”. Select as many interfaces that you have that are within the same subnet to create your team. You will need a minimum of 2 interfaces. Under the “Select the type of teaming” header, click the drop down to choose the type of teaming you would like to implement. Then click “Next”. It will take a few minutes for the team to be created. Once created, you will be taken to the Alias Configuration page where you will choose which interface you want to add an alias to. Pick the newly created team, Team-2 in this case, and click “Next”. On the following page you will need to give your aliases names, IPs, and portal tags. Make sure that the portal tags match between controllers. Once you have set that up, click “Next”.   You will come to a summary page. Ensure that everything is correct and click “Finish”. The alias IP that you set for the team on the Left Controller will be the IP you will use to connect to your iSCSI initiators. Your SAN is now configured with a team and aliases and you are now ready to create volumes to begin deploying your solution.