Cabling a FAS900 series cluster

Type of 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. The dual-port FC-AL adapter allows your appliance to support more storage than a single-port FC-AL adapter.

Minimum number of 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 specific number of dual-port FC-AL adapters you need depends on the number of disk shelves you have in each loop. See the System Configuration Guide at http://now.netapp.com for more information about your hardware.

Recommended slot locations

The following table lists recommended slot locations for the dual-port FC-AL adapters in a single node of a FAS900 series cluster. Check the System Configuration Guide http://now.netapp.com to confirm the slot assignment information.

Cluster type	Slot number on the back of the node
Standard cluster--One dual-port FC-AL adapter	Slot 2
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: