Deploying a Mixed 1Gb_10Gb Ethernet SAN using EqualLogic Storage Arrays - Dell Deployment Guide
Summary
This is a Dell best practices guide for deploying a mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Storage PS Series Arrays. It provides architectural guidance, network design recommendations, and configuration best practices for building storage area networks with mixed-speed Ethernet connectivity. The guide covers network topology recommendations, switch configuration, and performance optimization for PS Series storage deployments. It is intended for storage architects and network engineers.
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Best Practices for Deploying a Mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Storage PS Series Arrays Dell EMC Engineering December 2016
A Dell Best Practices Guide
Page Summary Contents For Deploying a Mixed 1Gb_10Gb Ethernet SAN using EqualLogic Storage Arrays - Dell Deployment Guide
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Best Practices for Deploying a Mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Storage PS Series Arrays Dell EMC Engineering December 2016 A Dell Best Practices Guide
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Revisions Date Description March 2011 Initial publication April 2012 Correction in Figure 10 December 2016 Updated to include new branding and formatting Acknowledgements This paper was produced by th...
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Table of contents Revisions................................................................................................................................................................................
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1 Introduction This paper presents network design recommendations and best practices for integration of 10Gb Dell™ Storage PS Series arrays into an existing 1Gb PS Series i SCSI SAN environment. By co...
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2 Integration strategies Before we begin describing integration strategies in detail, we first want to define the fully redundant i SCSI SAN designs used as building blocks for integration and testing...
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2.1 Design considerations for a mixed speed PS Series SAN To design mixed speed PS Series SANs, two key integration questions require focus: First: How do you properly design a mixed speed switched Et...
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Mixed speed PS Series SAN Referring to Figure 3, there are some important design considerations to be aware of: Each of the 1Gb switches is configured with one dual-port 10Gb uplink module and one s...
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3 Switch integration configuration Connecting the 1Gb and 10Gb switch fabrics for i SCSI storage traffic can be accomplished using one of three methods, depending on the capabilities of the switches b...
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connections can result in loss of access to storage in the event of a switch failure. Figure 5 shows an example of split connect. Additionally, Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP) would need to be configured a...
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LAG connections for all 1Gb and 10Gb switches – straight-through LAG for each connection 10 Best Practices for Deploying a Mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Storage PS Series Arrays | BP1008
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4 Pool architecture and volume placement testing When integrating 10Gb arrays into existing 1Gb PS Series SANs you must also consider how you locate volumes within the available pools. This section fo...
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B: One Power Edge server with two 1Gb SAN ports connecting to four volumes in one PS Series 10Gb array via stacked Dell Networking N3000 Series switches and LAGd Dell Networking N4000 Series switche...
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1Gb host performance IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Latency (ms) (ms) (ms) Seq. write Seq. read Random R/W 1Gb storage 10Gb storage Comparison of 1Gb initiator connecting to 1Gb and 10G...
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1Gb host pool performance comparison: Mixed speed targets in separate pools versus targets in a single mixed speed pool 1Gb host: Pool performance IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Latency...
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4.2 Comparing pool design and volume placement: 10Gb host initiator The same test sequences from the previous section were repeated using a 10Gb initiator on the host: E. One Power Edge server with ...
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10Gb host performance IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Latency (ms) (ms) (ms) Seq. write Seq. read Random R/W 1Gb storage 10Gb storage Comparison of 10Gb host initiator connecting to 1Gb ...
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10Gb host pool performance comparison: Mixed speed targets in separate pools versus targets in a single mixed speed pool 10Gb host: Pool performance IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Latency IOPS MB/s Laten...
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4.3 Analysis of pool design and architecture test results For 1Gb host initiators, it is apparent that the placement of volumes in either separate, single speed pools or a single mixed speed pool resu...
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5 Best practice recommendations The results presented in this paper indicate that attention must be paid to some important SAN design considerations when integrating of 10Gb PS Series arrays into an e...
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A 1Gb and 10Gb host SAN tests: full test results A.1 1Gb host SAN test results The baseline 1Gb I/O performance data in Figure 15 corresponds to two 1Gb host ports accessing four 100GB volumes on a si...
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Networking N4000 switches, as all of the 10Gb ports were directly connected, no traffic crossed the uplink ports to the Dell Networking N3000 stack. Full test results: 10Gb initiator performance compa...
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B Pool/volume placement: full test results Full test results: 1Gb initiator connecting to 1Gb targets versus 10Gb targets 22 Best Practices for Deploying a Mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Stora...
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Full test results: 1Gb initiator connecting to separate speed versus mixed speed pools 23 Best Practices for Deploying a Mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Storage PS Series Arrays | BP1008
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Full test results: 10Gb initiator connecting to 1Gb targets versus 10Gb targets 24 Best Practices for Deploying a Mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Storage PS Series Arrays | BP1008
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Full test results: 10Gb initiator connecting to separate speed versus mixed speed pools 25 Best Practices for Deploying a Mixed 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet SAN using Dell Storage PS Series Arrays | BP1008
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C Performance testing configuration Although the testing was performed previously, the recommendations remain the same as the architecture and functionality remain unchanged with regard to these tests...
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D 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 | 27 |
| File Size | 2.62 MB |
| Published | June 24, 2026 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the recommended test configurations for a mixed 1Gb/10Gb SAN?
Use Dell PS6000E with 1Gb controllers and Dell PS6010E with 10Gb controllers, both configured as RAID 10 with two hot spares.
What software tools are used to monitor performance in the SAN test environment?
The document recommends using PS Series SAN Headquarters version 2.0, EQL_Monitor Perl script, and Windows PerfMon.
Where can I find recommended documentation for integrating PS Series arrays?
Refer to the Dell publications listed on page 27, such as the PS Series Configuration Guide and Network Performance Guidelines.