Configuring a PowerConnect 5424 or 5448 Switch for use with an iSCSI storage system

This document can be used to help configure a Dell™ PowerConnect™ 5424 or 5448 switch for use with an Internet SCSI (iSCSI) storage system. It was created by Tom from our iSCSI interoperability lab for a customer using a Dell PowerVault™ MD3000i; however, it applies to any other iSCSI storage device on this family of switches.

Assumptions

• The user has network administration experience.
• Newest switch firmware is running; at the time this document was created, firmware version 2.0.0.35 was used.
• If running on an older version, download the package from the Dell support site and follow the upgrade directions.
• Examples here are from the console serial port on the rear of the switch.

Configuration Instructions

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console> show version
SW version 2.0.0.35 ( date 27-Jan-2009 time 18:13:34 )
Boot version 2.0.0.0 ( date 12-Nov-2008 time 12:56:52 )
HW version 00.00.01
console>
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Next, to have a known starting point, delete the current startup configuration and reboot the switch to return the switch to the factory default configuration.

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console> enable
console# delete startup-config
Delete startup-config [y/n]? y

console# reload
You haven’t saved your changes. Are you sure you want to continue ? (Y/N)[N] y
This command will reset the whole system and disconnect your current session. Do you want to continue ? (Y/N)[N] y
Shutting down …
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When the switch prompts you for the setup wizard, say no. You need to choose an appropriate IP address, mask, and gateway for your network. In the future, you can use Telnet to manage the switch instead of the console serial port.

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Would you like to enter the setup wizard (you must answer this question within
60 seconds)? (Y/N)[Y] N

console> enable
console# configure
console(config)# port jumbo-frame
console(config)# spanning-tree mode rstp
console(config)# interface range ethernet g1-24
console(config-if)# flowcontrol on
console(config-if)# spanning-tree portfast
console(config-if)# exit
console(config)# interface vlan 1
console(config-if)# sntp client enable
console(config-if)# ip address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 255.255.255.0
console(config-if)# exit
console(config)# ip default-gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
console(config)# enable password level 15 xxxxxx
console(config)# line telnet
console(config-line)# password xxxxxx
console(config-line)# exit
console(config)#
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This configuration gives you a good working switch for your back-end iSCSI network. Since this is a back-end network, there won’t be any VoIP traffic, and you can remove this stuff from the default configuration.

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console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 00036b
console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 00096e
console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 0001e3
console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 000fe2
console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 0060b9
console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 00d01e
console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 00e075
console(config)# voice vlan oui-table remove 00e0bb

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And again, since this is a back-end iSCSI network, you really have no need to prioritize iSCSI; (there is no other traffic) and you can remove this stuff too.

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console(config)# no iscsi enable
console(config)# no iscsi target port 860
console(config)# no iscsi target port 3260
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Now that you have finished the configuration, copy the running configuration to Flash. You will need to reboot for the jumbo frame command to take effect.

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console# copy running-config startup-config
Overwrite file [startup-config] ?[Yes/press any key for no] y ….01-Jan-2000 00:04:10 %COPY-I-FILECPY: Files Copy – source URL running-config destination URL flash://startup-config
01-Jan-2000 00:04:17 %COPY-N-TRAP: The copy operation was completed successfully
Copy succeeded
console#
console# reload
This command will reset the whole system and disconnect your current session. Do you want to continue ? (Y/N)[N] y
Shutting down …

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You may want to add a few more creative things to your configuration to customize it to your environment, but add them one at a time and then test.

Obtained from this link