DR Series Software 4.0.0.3 - Administration Guide

Networking prerequisites for the DR Series system

Before you can start using the DR Series system, ensure that you have satisfied the following networking prerequisites:

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Network: An active network is available using Ethernet cables and connections.

NOTE: If your DR Series system is equipped with a 1-GbE NIC, Dell recommends using CAT6 (or CAT6a) copper cabling. If your DR Series system is equipped with a 10-GbE NIC, Dell recommends using CAT6a copper cabling.

NOTE: If your DR Series system is equipped with a 10-GbE enhanced small form-factor pluggable (SFP+) NIC, you must use Dell-supported SFP+ LC fiber-optic transceivers or twin-axial cabling.

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IP Addresses: You need to ensure you have IP addresses that you will use for the DR Series system. The DR Series system ships with a default IP address and subnet mask address, which should only be used for an initial system configuration.

NOTE: You need to have an IP address available to replace the default IP address if you choose the static mode of IP addressing, or select to use the DHCP mode of IP addressing.

For the initial configuration, you need the following addresses:

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An IP address for the system

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A subnet mask address

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A default gateway address

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A DNS suffix address

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A primary DNS server IP address

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(Optional) A secondary DNS server IP address

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NIC Connections: By default, the DR Series system will configure NIC interfaces together as a bonded team (and only one IP address is needed because the bonded NICs assume the primary interface address). NIC connection bonding can use either of these two configurations:

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Adaptive load balancing (ALB), which is the default setting, does not require any special network switch support. Ensure that the data source system resides on the same subnet as the DR Series system. For more information, see Configuring Networking Settings.

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802.3ad or dynamic link aggregation (using the IEEE 802.3ad standard). 802.3ad requires special switch configuration before using the system (contact your network administrator for an 802.3ad configuration).

NOTE: To configure a 10-GbE NIC or 10-GbE SFP+ bonded configuration, connect only the 10-GbE/10-GbE SFP+ NICs. You can use the Advanced Networking feature in the command line interface to modify the default factory configuration.

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DNS: you need a DNS domain available, and you need to know the primary DNS server IP address (and a secondary DNS server IP address, if you choose to configure one).

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Replication ports: the replication service in the DR Series system requires that enabled fixed ports be configured to support replication operations that are to be performed across firewalls (TCP ports 9904, 9911, 9915, and 9916).

For more information about replication ports, see Managing Replication Operations, and for more information about system ports, see Supported Ports in a DR Series System.

NOTE: For the latest details about supported hardware and software for the DR Series system, see the DR Series System Interoperability Guide at support.quest.com/dr-series.

Parent topic

Supported connections for initializing the DR Series system

Default IP and subnet mask addresses

Local console connection

iDRAC connection

Accessing iDRAC6/iDRAC7 by using RACADM

There are two supported methods for connecting to the DR Series system for logging on and initial system configuration via the DR Series system CLI:

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Local console connection: a local access connection made between a local workstation and the DR Series system (with one connection made to a USB keyboard port on the DR Series front/rear chassis, and a second connection made to the VGA monitor port on the DR Series system rear chassis. (See Figure 3 for locations in the DR Series System Rear Chassis Port Locations in the Local Console Connection.)

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iDRAC connection: a remote access connection made between an integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) and the dedicated management port on the DR Series system rear chassis. (See Figure 3 for locations in the DR Series System Rear Chassis Port Locations in the Local Console Connection.)

Parent topic

Default IP and subnet mask addresses

This topic lists the following default address values that can be used for initialization of a DR Series system:

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IP address—10.77.88.99

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Subnet mask address—255.0.0.0

There are two key factors related to default address values and initializing a DR Series system:

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Using the local console

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Reserving MAC addresses using DHCP

If the network where the system will reside does not have or does not support DHCP, then the DR Series system can use the default IP (10.77.88.99) and subnet mask (255.0.0.0) addresses provided for initialization. If the network where the system will reside does not have or support reserving an IP address for the MAC address of the NICs in the DHCP server, then DHCP assigns an arbitrary IP address that is unknown (and which is unusable by you) during initialization.

As a result, if your network does not support DHCP or if you cannot reserve an IP address for the specific MAC addresses of the DHCP network interface cards (NICs), then Dell recommends that you use the local console connection method and the Initial System Configuration Wizard.

NOTE: After successfully initializing and configuring your system, you can modify the IP address to use either a static IP address or use dynamic IP addressing (DHCP), and modify the subnet mask address to be one that is supported by your network.

NOTE: If you have not run the Initial System Configuration Wizard on one (or more) DR Series system(s) being installed into the same network, there is a potential that the system (or systems) may come up with the same default IP address (10.77.88.99). The default IP address is not user-configurable and it can potentially result in becoming a duplicate IP address in the case of multiple systems.

Initialization issues could include when a network has had a network power outage, the DHCP server in the network is misconfigured, or if the Initial System Configuration Wizard has never been run.

If your network does not accept the default subnet mask address (255.0.0.0), you can establish a connection between the DR Series system and a laptop workstation. In this case, make sure that you connect using SSH, and use the default IP address to run the Initial System Configuration Wizard.

If you are using a known static IP address, you can skip the Initial System Configuration Wizard, and directly configure the DR Series system using the system graphical user interface (GUI). To configure the DR Series system, select System Configuration > Networking, and configure the network settings as desired. For more information, see Configuring Networking Settings.