Example SAN configurations
Examples of typical ways to configure your system and an associated Fibre Channel network are provided to guide you in setting up your SAN configuration.
Figure 1
illustrates a small SAN configuration. Two Fibre Channel switches
are use to provide redundancy. Each host system, SAN Volume Controller node, and storage system is connected to both
Fibre Channel switches.
Figure 1. Simple SAN configuration
Figure 2 illustrates a medium-sized
configuration with external storage systems. The Fibre Channel SAN fabric consists of switches that are interconnected with
interswitch links (ISLs). For redundancy, connect each SAN Volume Controller node and external storage system to two fabrics. The
example fabric attaches the SAN Volume Controller nodes
and the storage systems to the core
switch. There are no ISL hops between SAN Volume Controller node ports or between the nodes and
the external storage systems.
Figure 2. SAN configuration with a medium-sized fabric
Figure 3
illustrates a large fabric that consists of two core Fibre Channel
switches and edge switches that are interconnected with ISLs. For redundancy, use two fabrics with
each host system, SAN Volume Controller node, and storage system that is being connected.
Both fabrics attach the SAN Volume Controller nodes to
both core fabrics and distribute the storage systems between the two core
switches. This ensures that no ISL hops exist between SAN Volume Controller nodes or between nodes and the storage systems.
Figure 3. SAN configuration with a large fabric
Figure 4
illustrates a fabric where the host systems are located at two different sites. A long-wave optical
link is used to interconnect switches at the different sites. For redundancy, use two fabrics and at
least two separate long-distance links. If a large number of host systems are at the remote site,
use ISL trunking to increase the available bandwidth between the two sites.
Figure 4. SAN configuration across two sites