Dell EQUALLOGIC PS6500 Hardware Manual

Also see for PS6500: Quick reference guide Overview Installation and setup manual

Contents

Dell EQUALLOGIC PS6500 Hardware Manual Manual pdf 35 page image

PS6500 Hardware Maintenance Maintaining Control Modules3-3Identifying Control Module FailuresYou can identify a failure in a control module by:• LEDs. If a control module fails, the control module hardware status LED on the array is orange or flashingorange, and the LEDs on the control module indicate the failure as described in Interpreting Control ModuleLEDs on page 3-1.• Messages. A message on the LCD panel (located behind the bezel), on the console, in the event log, or in theGroup Manager GUI Alarms panel describes a control module failure.• Group Manager GUI and CLI output. The Member Controllers window or the member select showcontrollers command output shows the control module status not installed.Understanding Failover BehaviorOnly one control module is active (serving network traffic) at one time. Each control module includes a battery-backed write cache for storing recently-used data. For redundancy, the cache on the secondary control modulemirrors the data that is stored in the cache on the active control module.Each control module has four ports: Ethernet 0, Ethernet 1, Ethernet 2, and Ethernet 3. The active control modulecan use a network interface only if there is a cable connected to the port on the active control module. Therefore,you should connect a cable to the network interface port on each control module to make sure that both controlmodules can access an interface.A PS Series array provides two types of network failure protection:• Network connection failover. If multiple network interfaces are configured and one network interface fails,iSCSI initiators that were connected to the failed interface can reconnect to the group IP address and beredirected to a functioning interface. For example, if Ethernet 0 and Ethernet 1 are connected to a network, andEthernet 0 becomes disabled, initiators that were connected to Ethernet 0 can be redirected to Ethernet 1.• Control module failover. If the active control module fails, the secondary control module automatically takesover and becomes active. Control module failover is transparent to applications, but iSCSI initiators mustreconnect to the group IP address. If both control modules fail, the array will not operate.Replace a failed control module as soon as possible. Contact your PS Series support provider for a replacement.Maintaining Control Module FirmwareA PS6500 array includes two control modules, each with a microSD card running the array firmware. You shouldrun the latest firmware version to take advantage of new product features and enhancements.Caution: Both control modules must be running the same firmware version; otherwise, only one control modulewill be functional. When you use the update command procedure, both control modules are updatedto the same firmware version.Group members should run the same firmware version; otherwise, only the functionality common to all versionswill be available in the group. See the PS Series Release Notes for information about mixed-firmware groups.If you are upgrading a control module or replacing a failed microSD card, make sure to order the correct PS Seriesfirmware version. If you are replacing a failed control module, remove the microSD card from the failed controlmodule and install it in the replacement control module. This will make sure that you keep the correct firmware.