HP StoreAll Storage Network Best Practices Guide

The flat network is the recommended default configuration for StoreAll 93xx/8x00 networking.
This configuration combines the cluster, user, and management networks onto a single IP network.
Subnets are used to segregate the management network from the cluster and user networks, while
still allowing access for remote management. Modern high-speed networking hardware makes this
combination possible without unduly affecting performance. The flat approach provides ease of
configuration, improved remote management, and good performance.
This section includes the following information:
• Motivation. A discussion of the motivations for choosing the topology.
• Logical description. The topology at the IP addressing layer, showing the network attached
components that must be able to interchange packets. The preferred segregation of network
traffic to match the expected usage of each component is also discussed. Sample IP addresses
show the relationships between components.
• Physical description. The actual hardware implementation, focusing on how the logical entities
map to physical hardware and how that hardware is physically wired together.
• Physical cabling. The patch cables that need to be connected between the enclosure network
components and the customer network.
• Verifying the network configuration. Commands for verifying that the topology is set up
correctly.
Motivation
Benefits of the flat network:
• Simplified network configuration.
• Easier customer integration into existing network infrastructure. The customer no longer needs
to integrate a potentially foreign switch technology into the existing infrastructure.
• Remote access to component management interfaces from the customer network, without
requiring an intermediate gateway. Enabling remote customer access to the server iLOs is
especially important.
• Better integration with central management servers such as HP-SIM.
• Best dynamic utilization of available network bandwidth.
Reasons to choose a different configuration:
• Physically separate the management network from the user and cluster networks for increased
security, better traffic management, and so on.
• Allocate maximum bandwidth utilization based on physical network segregation.
• Implement user network segregation based on the physical segregation of networks instead
of the use of virtual LANs.
• Accommodate customer implementations where the management and user networks have very
different physical bandwidths.
Logical description
Logically, the flat configuration is a single, large IP network with a separate subnet for the
93xx/8x00 management components. In Figure 23 (page 57), the example IP addresses were
chosen to illustrate the relationship between components and subnets. The subnet mask and IP
address assignments shown here are for illustration purposes only. Customer address allocation
schemes can be done differently.
56 StoreAll 93xx/8x00 platform networking