Dell EMC Networking MXL Switch Configuration Guide for Dell EMC SC Series and Dell PS Series SANs Abstract This document illustrates how to configure the Dell EMC Networking MXL 10/40GbE blade switch for Dell™ PowerEdge™ M1000e blade enclosures with Dell EMC™ SC Series or Dell PS Series storage using Dell EMC best practices.
Revision Revisions Date Description January 2013 Initial release September 2013 Revised for firmware version 9.2.0.0 February 2014 Revised for firmware version 9.3.0.0 April 2014 Minor update July 2018 Revised for OS 9.13, and to include configuration for both SC Series and PS Series storage The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc.
Table of contents Table of contents 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................4 1.1 Document conventions .......................................................................................................................................4 1.2 Audience ....................................................................................................................
Introduction 1 Introduction This document illustrates how to configure the Dell EMC Networking MXL 10/40GbE blade switch for Dell™ PowerEdge™ M1000e blade enclosures with Dell EMC™ SC Series or Dell PS Series storage using Dell EMC best practices. Link Aggregation Groups (LAGs) for inter-switch connections are mandatory for PS Series iSCSI SAN environments and optional for SC Series iSCSI SAN environments. Optional steps are provided in section 3 to enable Data Center Bridging (DCB).
Introduction Note: The latest switch operating system updates and documentation can be found at the Force10 Portal. 1.4 Cabling diagrams Refer to one of the following cabling sections that is applicable to your storage system: SC Series (section 1.4.1) or PS Series (section 1.4.2). Note: Host servers are connected internally to the switch ports. 1.4.
Introduction 1.4.2 PS Series cabling diagram The cabling diagram shown in Figure 2 represents the Dell EMC recommended method for deploying servers and PS Series storage arrays.
Dell EMC recommended switch configuration 2 Dell EMC recommended switch configuration The steps in this section show how to configure two Dell EMC Networking MXL 10/40GbE blade switches with a Link Aggregation Group (LAG). The switches are interconnected using two of the 40GbE QSFP ports, and the LAG is configured for Dynamic Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP). Note: In an SC Series iSCSI SAN environment, a LAG interconnect is not required. 2.
Dell EMC recommended switch configuration 2.3 Disable iSCSI optimization Note: As a best practice, Dell EMC recommends disabling iSCSI session monitoring for larger SAN deployments. iSCSI session monitoring is enabled by default as part of iSCSI optimization. These steps show how to disable iSCSI optimization and manually configure the switches for use with EqualLogic iSCSI storage. Dell>enable Dell#configure Dell(conf)#no iscsi enable 2.
Dell EMC recommended switch configuration 2.8 Enable switch ports Use the commands for option 1 or option 2 to enable the switch ports. Option 1: Enable ports individually by entering the port number. Dell#configure Dell(conf)#interface tengigabitethernet 0/1 Dell(conf-if-te-0/1)#switchport Dell(conf-if-te-0/1)#no shutdown Dell(conf-if-te-0/1)#exit Option 2: Enable multiple ports at once using the range parameter.
Dell EMC recommended switch configuration The following commands assign 40Gb QSFP ports to the port channel. Dell(conf)#interface range fortyGigE 0/33 , fortyGigE 0/37 Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33,fo-0/37)#mtu 9216 Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33,fo-0/37)#flowcontrol rx on tx off Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33,fo-0/37)#no shutdown Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33,fo-0/37)#port-channel-protocol lacp Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33-37-lacp)#port-channel 1 mode active Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33-37-lacp)#end 2.
Configure Data Center Bridging (optional) 3 Configure Data Center Bridging (optional) DCB is enabled by default. This section shows the steps required to configure Data Center Bridging (DCB). Note: You must complete the Dell EMC recommended switch configuration steps in section 2 before configuring the switch for DCB mode. 3.1 Disable 802.
Configure Data Center Bridging (optional) 3.6 Apply policies to switch ports Dell(conf)#interface range tengigabitethernet 0/1 – 32 , tengigabitethernet 0/41 - 52 Dell(conf-if-range-te-0/1-32,te-0/41-52)# dcb-map Dell(conf-if-range-te-0/1-32,te-0/41-52)#exit Dell(conf)#interface range fortyGigE 0/33 , fortyGigE 0/37 Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33,fo-0/37)# dcb-map Dell(conf-if-range-fo-0/33,fo-0/37)#end 3.
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