Dell Unity™ Family Configuring High

Availability
Version 5.x

Part Number: H16708

May 2023
Rev. 08
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 Contents

Additional resources......................................................................................................................4

Chapter 1: Configure High Availability using Unisphere................................................................. 5

Link aggregation (physical deployments only)............................................................................................................. 5
Create a link aggregation............................................................................................................................................. 5
Change a link aggregation........................................................................................................................................... 6
Fail-safe networking........................................................................................................................................................... 6
Create a fail-safe network........................................................................................................................................... 7
Change an FSN...............................................................................................................................................................7
Repurpose a NAS Ethernet port for FSN or link aggregation...................................................................................7

Chapter 2: Configure High Availability using CLI........................................................................... 8

Manage link aggregations.................................................................................................................................................. 8
Create link aggregations.............................................................................................................................................. 9
View link aggregations................................................................................................................................................ 10
Change link aggregations........................................................................................................................................... 10
Delete link aggregations.............................................................................................................................................. 11
Manage Fail-safe networking (physical deployments only).....................................................................................12
Create an FSN.............................................................................................................................................................. 13
View FSN settings........................................................................................................................................................13
Change an FSN.............................................................................................................................................................14
Delete an FSN............................................................................................................................................................... 15

Contents 3
 Preface

As part of an improvement effort, revisions of the software and hardware are periodically released. Therefore, some functions
described in this document might not be supported by all versions of the software or hardware currently in use. The product
release notes provide the most up-to-date information on product features. Contact your technical support professional if a
product does not function properly or does not function as described in this document.

Where to get help

Support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as described below.

Product information
For product and feature documentation or release notes, go to Unity Technical Documentation at: dell.com/unitydocs.

Troubleshooting
For information about products, software updates, licensing, and service, go to Support (registration required) at: dell.com/
support. After logging in, locate the appropriate product page.

4 Additional resources
 1
Configure High Availability using Unisphere
Topics:
• Link aggregation (physical deployments only)
• Fail-safe networking
• Repurpose a NAS Ethernet port for FSN or link aggregation

Link aggregation (physical deployments only)

The storage system provides network high availability or redundancy by using link aggregation. With link aggregation, there can
be two to four Ethernet port combinations in one logical link. Each storage processor (SP) must have the same type and number
of Ethernet ports.
The loss of a network connection does not initiate failover to the peer SP, avoiding an outage. If the path to one port fails,
the switch automatically moves traffic to the remaining ports in the link aggregation. When they connection is restored, the
switch adds the failed port back to the link aggregation group and resumes use of the port. You can aggregate ports that are on
the same I/O module, different I/O modules, or you can aggregate I/O modules and (where available) onboard Ethernet ports
together.
NOTE: Unity XT 380/F systems that are manufactured earlier than the second half of 2022 had embedded 10 GbE
Ethernet ports. However, Unity XT 380/F systems that are manufactured in the second half of 2022 and later do not
include the 10 GbE ports. For more information, see the Dell Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform - A Detailed Review
white paper on Online Support.
Link aggregation also allows the system to load-balance host traffic, providing better performance.
Ports must have the same MTU size in order to be aggregated. Linked ports must connect to the same logical switch. The
switch must support and be configured to use the IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), which
provides fault tolerance and load balancing. In this LACP mode, the system aggregates interfaces into groups that share the
same speed and duplex settings.
Link Aggregation should also be configured at the host level to provide resiliency against port or cable failures. Depending on
the vendor, this may also be known as trunking, bonding, or NIC teaming. See your switch vendor's documentation for more
information about using LACP.
NOTE: Link aggregation can only be used for NAS server, file replication, and file import interfaces; you cannot aggregate
Ethernet ports that have iSCSI configured.
Link aggregation has the following advantages:
● High availability of network paths to and from the storage system—If one physical port of an aggregated port fails,
the system does not lose connectivity.
● Possible increased overall throughput—Occurs because multiple physical ports are bonded into one logical port.
● Load balancing across linked ports—Network traffic is distributed between multiple physical ports.
NOTE: An LACP trunk that is configured on the switch should never span across ports on different SPs. You must
configure one trunk for ports on SPA, and then a second trunk for the ports on SPB.

Create a link aggregation

Aggregate two or more ports together for high availability.

Prerequisites
Ports must have the same MTU size in order to be aggregated. Linked ports must connect to the same logical switch, and the
switch must be configured to use the IEEE 802.3ad standard Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP).

Configure High Availability using Unisphere 5

 NOTE: Link aggregation can only be used for NAS server, file replication, and file import interfaces; you cannot aggregate
Ethernet ports that have iSCSI configured.

Steps
1. Under Settings, select Access > High Availability
2. Under Link aggregations, select the Add icon.
3. Select the Ethernet ports you want to add to the link aggregation.

Change a link aggregation

Add or remove ports from a link aggregation.

Prerequisites
You cannot edit a link aggregation that is already part of a fail safe network (FSN). You must first remove that link aggregation
from the FSN in order to do so. You cannot remove the primary port from a link aggregation. You cannot add a port to the link
aggregation that is already independently part of an FSN.
Ports must have the same MTU size in order to be aggregated. Linked ports must connect to the same logical switch, and the
switch must be configured to use the IEEE 802.3ad standard Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP).

Steps
1. Under Settings, select Access > High Availability.
2. Under Link aggregations, select an existing link aggregation and click the Edit icon.
a. Select a non-primary port and click the Delete icon to remove it from the link aggregation.
NOTE: Removing a port from a link aggregation with only two ports will destroy the link aggregation.

b. Alternatively, click the Add icon and select a new port to add to the link aggregation.
c. Optionally, change the MTU size for the link aggregation (changes all ports at once).
3. Click Apply after each change before you make another modification.

Fail-safe networking
Learn about Fail-safe networking (FSN).
A Fail-Safe Network (FSN) is a high-availability feature that extends link failover into the network by providing switch-level
redundancy. An FSN appears as a single link with a single MAC address and potentially multiple IP addresses. An FSN can be a
port, a link aggregation, or any combination of the two. An FSN adds an extra layer of availability to link aggregations alone. Link
aggregations provide availability in the event of a port failure. FSNs provide availability in the event of a switch failure. Each port
or link aggregation is considered as a single connection. Only one connection in an FSN is active at a time. All the connections
making up the FSN share a single hardware (MAC) address.
If the system detects a failure of the active connection, it will automatically switch to the standby connection in the FSN.
That new connection assumes the network identity of the failed connection, until the primary connection is available again.
You can designate which connection is the primary port/connection. To ensure connectivity in the event of a hardware failure,
create FSN devices on multiple I/O modules or onboard ports. The FSN components are connected to different switches. If the
network switch for the active connection fails, the FSN fails over to a connection using a different switch, thus extending link
failover out into the network.
When replicating from one Unity system to another, configure the FSN the same way on both systems as a best practice. You
will need to manually configure the FSN on the destination before setting up replication. Otherwise, if you set up the FSN on the
destination after replication is configured, you will need to use the Override address option to select the FSN as the interface
for the destination NAS server.
NOTE: A NAS server IP interface should be build on the highest level logical device. If you want to repurpose a port or link
aggregation currently used as a NAS server IP interface for an FSN, you will need to remove the IP interface from the NAS
server, create the FSN, and reassign the IP interface to the FSN device.

6 Configure High Availability using Unisphere

Create a fail-safe network
Learn how to create a fail-safe network.

Prerequisites
If you want to add a link aggregation to this FSN, be sure to create that link aggregation first.

About this task

FSN provides additional protection and redundancy over link aggregation by providing high availability in the event of a switch
failure.

Steps
1. Under Settings, select Access > High Availability
2. Under Fail Safe Networking, click the Add icon.
3. Select two or more ports to add to the Fail Safe Network. You can choose standalone ports or link aggregations, or any
combination of the two.
4. Select the Primary Port for the FSN and click Apply.

Change an FSN
Learn how to add or remove links to an existing fail-safe network.

Prerequisites
You cannot remove a primary port from an FSN.

Steps
1. Under Settings, select Access > High Availability.
2. Under Fail Safe Networking, select the FSN for which you want to add or remove ports or link aggregations and click the
Edit icon.
3. Select a non-primary port and click the Delete icon to remove it from the FSN. Alternatively, click the Add icon and select
a new port or link aggregation to add to the FSN. Click Apply after each add or delete change before you make another
modification.

Repurpose a NAS Ethernet port for FSN or link

aggregation
Prerequisites
NOTE: If you only have one interface currently set up for your NAS server, the host connection will experience downtime
during this repurpose process.

About this task

If you have already dedicated an Ethernet port as an interface for a NAS server, but would like to repurpose it for fail-safe
networking (FSN) or link aggregation (LA), you will need to deconstruct the network port, assign it to a LA or FSN, and then
build the NAS server on top of the new FSN device.

Steps
1. Remove the IP interface from the NAS server for the port you would like to use in the FSN.
2. Optionally, create the Link Aggregation to be included in the FSN.
3. Create an FSN using the desired ports and/or link aggregations.
4. Recreate the IP interface for the NAS server on top of the FSN device.

Configure High Availability using Unisphere 7

 2
Configure High Availability using CLI
Topics:
• Manage link aggregations
• Manage Fail-safe networking (physical deployments only)

Manage link aggregations

Link aggregation lets you link physical ports (for example, port 0 and port 1) on an SP to a single logical port, allowing you to use
up to four Ethernet ports on the SP. If your system has two SPs, and you link two physical ports, the same ports on both SPs
are linked for redundancy. For example, if you link port 0 and port 1, the system creates a link aggregation for these ports on SP
A and a link aggregation on SP B.
An ID is used to identify each link aggregation.

NOTE: The cabling on SP A must be identical to the cabling on SP B, or you cannot configure link aggregation.

Link aggregation has the following advantages:

● Increases overall throughput since two physical ports are linked into one logical port.
● Provides basic load balancing across linked ports since the network traffic is distributed across multiple physical ports.
● Provides redundant ports so that if one port in a linked pair fails, the system does not lose connectivity.
NOTE: Ports must have the same MTU size in order to be aggregated. Linked ports must connect to the same logical
switch. The switch must support and be configured to use the IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic Link Aggregation Control Protocol
(LACP), which provides fault tolerance and load balancing. In this LACP mode, the system aggregates interfaces into
groups that share the same speed and duplex settings. The documentation that came with your switch should provide more
information about using LACP.
The following table describes the attributes for link aggregation.

Table 1. Link aggregation attributes

Attribute Description
ID ID of the link aggregation. The ID is a combination of the link
ID and the SP that contains the linked ports.
Ports IDs of the linked physical ports. The port names include the
name of the SP that contains the ports.
SP Name of the SP on which the ports are linked. Valid values
are:
● SPA
● SPB
MTU size Maximum transmission unit (MTU) packet size (in bytes) for
the linked ports. Default is 1500 bytes per packet.
Linux device name Linux network device name.
FSN port ID ID of the FSN port to which the link aggregation belongs, if it
is part of an FSN.
Available MTU size List of available MTU sizes.
NOTE: This option displays as an interval defined by the
minimum and maximum values, for example: 1280-9216.

8 Configure High Availability using CLI

Table 1. Link aggregation attributes (continued)
Attribute Description
Health state Health state of the link aggregation. The health state code
appears in parentheses. Value is one of the following:
● Unknown (0)—Status is unknown.
● OK (5)—Working correctly.
● OK BUT (7)—Lost connection, but the link aggregation
is not in use.
● Degraded/Warning (10)—Working and performing all
functions, but the performance may not be optimum.
● Minor failure (15)—Working and performing all
functions, but overall performance is degraded. This
condition has a minor impact on the system and should
be remedied at some point, but does not need to be fixed
immediately.
● Major failure (20)—Failing and some or all
functions may be degraded or not working. This condition
has a significant impact on the system and should be
remedied immediately.
● Critical failure (25)—Failed and recovery may
not be possible. This condition has resulted in data loss and
should be remedied immediately.
● Non-recoverable error (30)—Completely failed
and cannot be recovered.
Health details More health information.

Create link aggregations

Create a link aggregation by linking two physical ports on an SP to create a logical port.

Format
/net/la create –ports <value> [-mtuSize <value>]

Action qualifier
Qualifier Description
-ports Type the IDs of the physical ports to link on the SP. Separate the IDs with a comma. For example, to link ports 0
and 1 on SPA, type: eth0_SPA,eth1_SPA.
-mtuSize Type the MTU size (in bytes) for the linked ports. The MTU size can be set to a custom value between 1280 and
9216.
Specific I/O modules may restrict allowed range for MTU size value. The MTU size values of 1500 bytes (default)
and 9000 bytes (jumbo frame) are supported by all interfaces and I/O modules.

Example
The following command links port 0 and port 1 on SPA with the default MTU size. The system has two SPs, so port 0 and port 1
on SPB are also linked, which results in two link aggregation IDs:
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/la create -ports "eth0_SPA,eth1_SPA"

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

Configure High Availability using CLI 9

 ID = la0_SPA
ID = la0_SPB
Operation completed successfully.

View link aggregations

View details about link aggregations. You can filter on the link aggregation ID.

Format
/net/la [-id <value>] show

Object qualifier
Qualifier Description
-id Type the ID of the link aggregation.

Example
The following command shows the link aggregations on the system, in this case, for both SPA and SPB:
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/la show -detail

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

1: ID = spa_la_0_2
SP = spa
Ports = spa_iom_0_eth2, spa_iom_0_eth3
FSN port ID = None
MTU size = 3456
Available MTU sizes = 1280-9216
Linux device name = bond12
Health state = OK (5)
Health details = "The component is operating normally. No action is required."
Operational status =

2: ID = spb_la_0_2
SP = spb
Ports = spb_iom_0_eth2, spb_iom_0_eth3
FSN port ID = None
MTU size = 3456
Available MTU sizes = 1280-9216
Linux device name = bond12
Health state = OK (5)
Health details = "The component is operating normally. No action is required."
Operational status =

Change link aggregations

Change the settings of a link aggregation.

Format
/net/la -id <value> set [-ports <value>] [-mtuSize <value>]

10 Configure High Availability using CLI

Object qualifier
Qualifier Description
-id Type the ID of the link aggregation to change.

Action qualifier
Qualifier Description
-ports Type the IDs of the physical ports to link on the SP. Separate the IDs with a comma. For example, to link ports 0
and 1 on SPA, type: eth0_SPA,eth1_SPA
-mtuSize Type the MTU size (in bytes) for the linked ports. The MTU size can be set to a custom value between 1280 and
9216.
Specific I/O modules may restrict allowed range for MTU size value. The MTU size values of 1500 bytes (default)
and 9000 bytes (jumbo frame) are supported by all interfaces and I/O modules.

Example
The following command changes the MTU size for link aggregation la0_SPA to 9000 bytes. The system has two SPs, so MTU
size is updated for both link aggregation IDs:
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/la –id la0_SPA set –mtuSize 9000

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

ID = la0_SPA
ID = la0_SPB
Operation completed successfully.

Delete link aggregations

Delete a link aggregation.

Format
/net/la [-id <value>] delete

Object qualifier
Qualifier Description
-id Type the ID of the link aggregation to delete.

Example
The following command deletes link aggregation la0_SPA. The system has two SPs, so link aggregation la0_SPB is also deleted:
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/la –id la0_SPA delete

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

Configure High Availability using CLI 11

 ID = la0_SPA
ID = la0_SPB
Operation completed successfully.

Manage Fail-safe networking (physical deployments

only)
Learn about Fail-safe networking (FSN) and which attributes are used to manage FSN in the CLI.
A Fail-Safe Network (FSN) is a high-availability feature that extends link failover into the network by providing switch-level
redundancy. An FSN appears as a single link with a single MAC address and potentially multiple IP addresses. An FSN can be a
port, a link aggregation, or any combination of the two. An FSN adds an extra layer of availability to link aggregations alone. Link
aggregations provide availability in the event of a port failure. FSNs provide availability in the event of a switch failure. Each port
or link aggregation is considered as a single connection. Only one connection in an FSN is active at a time. All the connections
making up the FSN share a single hardware (MAC) address.
If the system detects a failure of the active connection, it will automatically switch to the standby connection in the FSN.
That new connection assumes the network identity of the failed connection, until the primary connection is available again.
You can designate which connection is the primary port/connection. To ensure connectivity in the event of a hardware failure,
create FSN devices on multiple I/O modules or onboard ports. The FSN components are connected to different switches. If the
network switch for the active connection fails, the FSN fails over to a connection using a different switch, thus extending link
failover out into the network.
When replicating from one Unity system to another, configure the FSN the same way on both systems as a best practice. You
will need to manually configure the FSN on the destination before setting up replication. Otherwise, if you set up the FSN on
the destination after replication is configured, you will need to use the override option to select the FSN as the interface for the
destination NAS server.
NOTE: A NAS server IP interface should be build on the highest level logical device. If you want to repurpose a port or link
aggregation currently used as a NAS server IP interface for an FSN, you will need to remove the IP interface from the NAS
server, create the FSN, and reassign the IP interface to the FSN device.

Table 2. FSN attributes

Attribute Description
ID ID of the Fail-Safe Networking port.
SP Storage processor the FSN is on.
MTU size Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size.
Available MTU sizes List of available MTU sizes.
NOTE: This displays as an interval defined by the
minimum and maximum values, for example: 1280-9216.

Linux device name Name of the Linux network device.

Primary port ID of the primary port used in the FSN. The primary port
cannot be removed.
Secondary ports Comma-separated list of the other secondary ports in the
FSN. This includes both link aggregations and ethernet ports.
Active port ID of the active port for the FSN.
Health state The health state of the FSN. Valid values are:
● OK (5) — The FSN is operating normally, or the active
port of the FSN has changed.
● Degraded/Warning (10) — Performance of the FSN
has degraded.
● Minor failure (15) — An FSN port link is down.
● Major failure (20) — An FSN port is missing ports,
or an FSN port is not symmetrical.

12 Configure High Availability using CLI

Table 2. FSN attributes (continued)
Attribute Description
Health details Detailed health information for the FSN.

Create an FSN
Use the CLI to create a fail-safe network.
Create a fail-safe network using two or more ports or link aggregations.

Format
/net/fsn create -primaryPort <value> -secondaryPorts <value> [-mtuSize <value>]

Action qualifier
Qualifier Description
-primaryPort Type the ID of the primary port for the FSN. This can be either an ethernet port or link
aggregation.
-secondaryPorts Type the comma-separated list of additional port or link aggregation IDs to be included in the
FSN.
-mtuSize Optionally, type the Maximum Transmission Unit size for the FSN. The MTU must be in the
range allowed for all of the ports included in the FSN. The MTU size can be set to a custom
value between 1280 and 9216.
Specific I/O modules may restrict allowed range for MTU size value. The MTU size values of
1500 bytes (default) and 9000 bytes (jumbo frame) are supported by all interfaces and I/O
modules.

Example
The following example creates an FSN where the primary port is a single ethernet port, and the secondary ports include a link
aggregation and additional single ethernet port.
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/fsn create -primaryPort spa_eth0
-secondaryPorts "spa_la_2,spa_eth3"

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

ID = spa_fsn_0
ID = spb_fsn_0

Operation completed successfully.

View FSN settings

Review the list and details of each FSN on the system.

Format
/net/fsn [-id <value>] show

Configure High Availability using CLI 13

Object qualifier
Qualifier Description
-id Type the ID for the FSN port for which you would like to view details. Do not specify to see
details for all FSNs on the system.

Example
The following example shows the details of all the FSNs on the system.
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/fsn show -detail

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

1: ID = spa_fsn_0_1
SP = spa
Primary port = spa_iom_0_eth1
Secondary ports = spa_la_2
Active port = spa_iom_0_eth1
MTU size = 1500
Available MTU sizes = 1500,9000
Health state = OK (5)
Health details = "FSN port is operating normally."

2: ID = spb_fsn_0_1
SP = spb
Primary port = spb_iom_0_eth1
Secondary ports = spb_la_2
Active port = spb_iom_0_eth1
MTU size = 1500
Available MTU sizes = 1500,9000
Health state = OK (5)
Health details = "FSN port is operating normally."

Change an FSN
Make changes to an existing FSN.
Change a fail-safe network by modifying the included secondary ports or MTU sizes.

Format
/net/fsn -id <value> set [-secondaryPorts <value>] [-mtuSize <value>]

Object qualifier
Qualifier Description
-id Type the ID of the FSN port.

Action qualifier
Qualifier Description
-secondaryPorts Type the list of full IDs of the physical ports and/or link aggregation ports for the FSN. Remove
any from the list you wanted deleted from the FSN, and add any you want included.

14 Configure High Availability using CLI

Qualifier Description
-mtuSize Type the new Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size for the FSN. The MTU must be in the
range allowed for all of the ports included in the FSN. The MTU size can be set to a custom
value between 1280 and 9216.
Specific I/O modules may restrict allowed range for MTU size value. The MTU size values of
1500 bytes (default) and 9000 bytes (jumbo frame) are supported by all interfaces and I/O
modules.

Example 1
The following example changes the MTU size of the FSN "spa_fsn_0".
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/fsn -d spa_fsn_0 set -mtuSize 9000

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

ID = spa_fsn_0
ID = spb_fsn_0

Operation completed successfully.

Example 2
The following example shows an attempt to add Ethernet port "spa_iom_0_eth2" to FSN "spa_fsn_0", however this ethernet
port is already in use for another link aggregation and could not be added independently to the FSN.
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/fsn -d spa_fsn_0 set -secondaryPorts
spa_iom_0_eth2

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

Operation failed. Error code: 0x6000851

One of the specified ports cannot be used to configure an FSN because to it is already
included in an FSN or link aggregation. (Error Code:0x6000851)

Delete an FSN
Delete an FSN from the system.
Delete a fail-safe network.

Format
/net/fsn -id <value> delete

Object qualifier
Qualifier Description
-id Type the ID of the FSN port.

Configure High Availability using CLI 15

Example
The following example deletes FSN "spa_fsn_0"
uemcli -d 10.0.0.1 -u Local/joe -p MyPassword456! /net/fsn -id spa_fsn_0 delete

Storage system address: 10.0.0.1

Storage system port: 443
HTTPS connection

ID = spa_fsn_0
ID = spb_fsn_0

Operation completed successfully.

16 Configure High Availability using CLI