Xsan Deployment and Tuning Guide

1 Setup
and Tuning Guidelines
This chapter offers guidelines for making configuration
choices that can affect SAN performance.
1
How quickly SAN clients can transfer data to and from Xsan volumes depends on a
variety of factors, including:
 The configuration of and load on the SAN’s Ethernet network
 The layout and performance of the SAN’s Fibre Channel network
 Settings for the Xserve RAID systems that provide LUNs
 The organization of Xsan volumes and storage pools
 Xsan file system settings
Setting Up the Ethernet TCP/IP Network
Ethernet connections are used in several ways in an Xsan storage area network:
 Xsan clients and controllers use Ethernet to exchange volume metadata.
 Xsan clients can use Ethernet for access to networks outside the SAN (campus or
corporate intranet or the Internet).
 Xsan controllers can use Ethernet connections for remote management.
 Xserve RAID systems can use Ethernet connections for system management.
 Fibre Channel switches can use Ethernet connections for switch management.
You have two basic options:
 Use one Ethernet network for all traffic. This is the less expensive option, but is also
less secure and might not provide the best possible performance.
 Use two separate networks; one for metadata and another for all other IP traffic.
This configuration is slightly more expensive (requiring two Ethernet adapters for
each computer) but offers greater security and better performance because routine
network traffic doesn’t interfere with SAN volume metadata traffic.
7