Dell PS Series Storage Arrays iSCSI Initiator and OS Considerations User Guide
Summary
Best practice guide for iSCSI initiator configuration on Dell PS Series (EqualLogic) storage arrays for high-availability SAN environments. Covers multipathing setup for Windows Server, VMware ESXi, Linux, and XenServer, including MPIO configuration, path policies, failover behavior, CHAP authentication, and performance tuning. Targets storage administrators and SAN engineers managing Dell PS Series iSCSI environments.
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Dell PS Series Storage Arrays i SCSI Initiator and Operating System Considerations Optimizing Your SAN Environment for High Availability Dell Storage Engineering January 2017
A Dell EMC Best Practice
Page Summary Contents For Dell PS Series Storage Arrays iSCSI Initiator and OS Considerations User Guide
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Dell PS Series Storage Arrays i SCSI Initiator and Operating System Considerations Optimizing Your SAN Environment for High Availability Dell Storage Engineering January 2017 A Dell EMC Best Practice
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Revisions Date Description October 2013 Initial release January 2017 New format, Added Xen Server, Windows Server 2012 R2 The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no re...
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Table of contents Revisions................................................................................................................................................................................
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E Configure your IBM AIX operating system ................................................................................................................. 20 E.1 i SCSI Initiators Lose Volume Connect...
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Preface Dell™ PS Series arrays optimize resources by automating performance and network load balancing. Additionally, PS Series arrays offer all-inclusive array management software, host software, and...
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1 High-Availability Procedure Summary This chapter summarizes the procedures that you must perform to optimize your environment for high availability (HA). 1.1 Proactive Maintenance Support If you hav...
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2 About High-Availability i SCSI Data Transfer This chapter describes how to optimize your storage area network (SAN) environment for highly available (HA) i SCSI data transfer. It contains informatio...
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3 Configure Your Hosts for High Availability 3.1 Host Integration Tools Dell has automated a portion of this process in the PS Series Host Integration Tools (HIT) kit. The PS Series HIT kits provide i...
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4 Configure Your Network for High Availability A PS Series i SCSI SAN can be operated in any network that supports the industry standards and IP subnet design guidelines described in this chapter. Bec...
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All switches in the SAN must have jumbo frames enabled. This requirement applies to SANs connected to either a PS Series array or an FS Series appliance. Redundant SAN PS4100 Redundant SAN PS6100 10 D...
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Both LAG or Stacking interconnects can be used as the bridging mechanism between redundant switches in the PS Series SAN, but each method has a different set of considerations that might make one ap...
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A Configure Your Microsoft Windows Operating System The following sections describe how to configure settings on your Microsoft® Windows servers to ensure high availability. A.1 Procedure Summary To e...
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HIT/Microsoft toolkit. A path failover occurs between storage controllers. In this scenario, the system loses track of one or more logical unit numbers (LUNs). Therefore, not all the LUNs appear in th...
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To fix this problem, apply the hotfix specified in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 979711, support.microsoft.com/kb/979711, to each cluster node. Performance Degradation When Heavy Disk I/O Load Th...
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B Install the Multi-extension module for VMware operating system VMWare v Sphere provides the Pluggable Storage Architecture (PSA), which enables multipath configuration for high availability and incr...
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C Configure your Linux operating system If you do not have the HIT kit installed, the following sections describe the configuration settings you need to apply on your Linux hosts to ensure high availa...
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arrays and the Linux host. Dell recommends that you change the setting to manual. The HIT/Linux eqltune utility recommends this change, but does not automatically implement it: node.startup = manual C...
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Loosen IPv4 Reverse Path Filtering To allow multiple i SCSI connections in a multiple NIC per subnet configuration, reverse path filtering must be loosened. Use this setting: net.ipv4.conf.eth X.rp_...
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D Configure your Oracle Solaris 10 operating system You can use the default initiator configuration for Oracle® Solaris® 10 operating systems. No changes are required. However, you might experience th...
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E Configure your IBM AIX operating system The AIX native i SCSI controller does not perform device discovery, so you will need to know your i SCSI IQN target names specifically. In addition IBM® AIX® ...
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F Configure Your Citrix Xen Server Operating System You may use the Citrix Xen Server Open-i SCSI multipathing software initiator to provide native MPIO support and discovery. More information is avai...
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G Technical support and resources Dell.com/support is focused on meeting customer needs with proven services and support. Dell Tech Center is an online technical community where IT professionals have ...
Manual Details
| Brand | Dell |
|---|---|
| Pages | 22 |
| File Size | 555.11 KB |
| Published | June 24, 2026 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the operating system recommendations for Dell PS Series?
Follow OS specific configuration information and increase transmit/receive resource settings for high availability.
How do I configure IBM AIX for iSCSI?
Use the native iSCSI controller and know your target IQN names, as AIX does not perform device discovery.
What is the workaround for AIX iSCSI initiator connectivity loss?
Disable the PS Series group's load-balancing feature before applying a patch for incident IZ90885.
Which OS supports native MPIO support for Dell PS Series?
Citrix XenServer Open-iSCSI multipathing software initiator provides native MPIO support.