MD3200i setup/implementation without addition of multiple switches

Question

Hello,I recently picked up a used PowerVault MD3200i (2 controllers, 12 300GB 15k SAS drives) and am planning an implementation into my existing infrastructure. We are a smaller business with a single R710 having 2 local disk VMs (SBS 2011 and W2k8 R2) connected to a single Netgear 48p gigabit managed switch.  I also have a Western Digital DX4000 NAS device with 2008 Storage Server that acts as a iSCSI target for one of the VMs - this device would be replaced with the MD3200i.  I don't forsee our network growing past it's current infrastructure requirements in terms of servers or storage needs. I have read all the Dell documentation on best practices, setup, etc on the MD3200i and have some questions on possibilities implementing this device without having to add multiple switches to our environment.  To avoid adding multiple switches to support the connection of R710 to MD3200i, can I not add a couple of these Intel 4 port NICs to my R710 and direct connect them using CAT6 cables using the suggested subnetting techniques outlined in the setup docs (each NIC with different subnet), running two NIC ports from NIC A to controller 1 and other two NIC ports to the controller B - vice versa on the 2nd NIC?http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/network-adapters/gigabit-network-adapters/pro-1000-pt-qp.html EDIT:I found these couple postings showing other people who have setup this SAN way for reference:http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/storage/f/1216/t/19350753http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/storage/f/1216/t/19350753 I would still like some feedback as to pros/cons in doing it this way instead of using switches.

DELL-Sam L · Accepted Answer

Hello xetremex,

So with the MD 3200i you can connect it direct to your R710 server. Now the HBA that you listed should work in your R710 & allow you to connect to your MD3200i, but I would confirm that it can handle iSCSI before purchasing that card. Once you have your HBA’s then you will follow the deployment guide just as if you were if you were going to connect to a switch.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

DELL-Sam L · Accepted Answer

Hello xetremex,

Correct all you need to do on the host is to configure the iSCSI so that the host can connect to the MD. The MD3200i will handle the aggregation/ round robin of which paths to use.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

xetremex · Answer

Do I need to configure anything special on the Hyper-V 2012 Core R2 host server beyond the IP configuration suggested with each NIC being on it's own subnet?  The MD3200i handles all the aggregation/round robin correct?

PowerVault

Was this post helpful?