Cabling the cluster

Type of FC-AL adapter used in the cluster

The dual-port Fibre Channel (dual-port FC-AL) adapters have two ports per adapter. These ports support both the Channel A and Channel B disk shelf loops, with the top port supporting the Channel A loop and the bottom port supporting the Channel B loop. The dual-port Fibre Channel adapter allows the FAS900 series appliance to support more storage than a single-port FC-AL adapter.

Minimum FC-AL adapters needed for mirrored clusters

If the cluster is mirrored, each node must have a minimum of two dual-port FC-AL adapters per node. The number of dual-port FC-AL adapters depends on the number of disk shelves you have in each loop.

Recommended dual-port FC-AL adapter locations

The following table lists the most common recommended locations for the dual-port FC-AL adapters in a single node of the cluster. Check the System Configuration Guide on the NOW Web page at http://now.netapp.com to confirm the slot assignment information.

Cluster type	Node slot number on back of the node
Standard cluster--one dual-port FC-AL adapter	Slot 2
Mirrored cluster--one dual-port FC-AL adapter per node	N/A
Standard cluster--Two dual-port FC-AL adapters per node	Slot 2, Slot 3
Mirrored cluster--Two dual-port FC-AL adapters per node	Slot 8 (pool 1), slot 5 (pool 0)
Standard cluster--Four dual-port FC-AL adapters per node	Slot 2, slot 3, slot 4, slot 8
Mirrored cluster--Four dual-port FC-AL adapters per node	Slot 8 (pool 1), slot 5 (pool 0), slot 10 (pool 1), slot 3 (pool 0)

For detailed information

For detailed information about the cabling process, see the following topics: