Integrating 1Gbe And 10Gbe Sans - Dell PS4000 Configuration Manual

4.6 Integrating 1GbE and 10GbE SANs

With the introduction of 10GbE, there will be situations that require 1Gb arrays and 10Gb arrays
coexisting in the same SAN infrastructure. EqualLogic PS Series arrays support operation of 1Gb and
10Gb arrays within the same group. There are advantages in running a mixed speed (1GbE <-> 10GbE)
SAN:

Not all of the application workloads on a SAN will require storage I/O performance that the
10Gb arrays provide. Thus, SAN administrators will have additional storage tiering flexibility
based on array I/O performance.

The PS Series Group Manager will allow the SAN administrator to still manage both types of
arrays within the same SAN group.
There are many ways to design an iSCSI SAN that integrates 1GbE and 10GbE networks together. A
significant factor affecting the design of a mixed speed iSCSI SAN is the feature set and port densities
provided by the Ethernet switches you will be using in your SAN. To create a redundant, mixed speed
iSCSI SAN, at a minimum we recommend that you start with dual 1GbE and dual 10GbE switches.
Figure 14 shows an example SAN design, where two switches of each type are used. The design in
Figure 14 is based on the features provided by the Dell PowerConnect 6248 1Gb Ethernet switch with
10GbE uplink modules, and the Dell PowerConnect 8024 10Gb Ethernet switch. The Dell PowerConnect
8024 is not a stackable switch, so a link aggregation group (LAG) is used to create the inter-switch
trunk paths. Two additional LAG groups are created to connect to the 10GbE uplink ports on the 1Gb
switches to the 10Gb switches.
Note: See the following Dell EqualLogic whitepaper for more detailed analysis and guidelines for
integrating 1GbE and 10GbE iSCSI SANs:
Integrating EqualLogic PS6x10 Arrays with Existing SANs, available at:

http://www.equallogic.com/resourcecenter/assetview.aspx?id=9447
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