Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-End Network
Overview
March 2025
H16346.8
White Paper
Abstract
This white paper provides an introduction to the Ethernet back-end
network for Dell PowerScale scale-out NAS.
Executive summary
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Copyright © 2020-2024 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved.
Published in the USA March 2025 H16346.8.
Dell Inc. believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change
without notice.
2 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
Executive summary
Contents
Executive summary.......................................................................................................................4
Legacy Isilon back-end network ..................................................................................................5
Isilon platform back-end network option .....................................................................................5
PowerScale platform back-end network option ..........................................................................5
Technical support and resources ..............................................................................................16
Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview 3
Executive summary
Executive summary
Overview This document provides design considerations for Dell PowerScale back-end (internal)
networking. This back-end network, which is configured with redundant switches for high
availability, acts as the backplane for the PowerScale cluster. This backplane enables
each PowerScale node to act as a contributor in the cluster and provides node-to-node
communication with a private, high-speed, low-latency network.
Revisions Part number/
Date Description
revision
June 2020 H16346 Content and template update
December 2021 H16346.1 Template update
April 2022 H16346.2 Content and template update
March 2023 H16346.3 PowerScale platform back-end network options update
December 2023 H16346.4 Minor update
February 2024 H16346.5 Update to include F210 and F710 node types
June 2024 H16346.6 Update to include F910 node type
December 2024 H16346.7 Update to include backend IB support and supported
switch
March 2025 H16346.8 Include Arista 7308X3 and Dell Z9664 switch support
We value your Dell Technologies and the authors of this document welcome your feedback on this
feedback document. Contact the Dell Technologies team by email.
Author:
Note: For links to other documentation for this topic, see the PowerScale Info Hub.
4 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
Legacy Isilon back-end network
Legacy Isilon back-end network
Overview Before the introduction of the latest generation of PowerScale scale-out NAS storage
platforms, inter-node communication in a Dell Isilon cluster was performed using a
proprietary, unicast (node-to-node) protocol known as Remote Block Manager (RBM).
This inter-node communication uses a fast low-latency InfiniBand (IB) network. This back-
end network, which is configured with redundant switches for high availability, acts as the
backplane for the Isilon cluster. This backplane enables each Isilon node to act as a
contributor in the cluster and provides node-to-node communication with a private, high-
speed, low-latency network. This back-end network uses Internet Protocol (IP) over IB
(IPoIB) to manage the cluster. Sockets Direct Protocol (SDP) is used for all data traffic
between nodes in the cluster.
Isilon platform back-end network option
Overview Isilon scale-out NAS platforms offer increased back-end networking flexibility. With
PowerScale platforms, customers may choose to use either an InfiniBand or Ethernet
switch on the back end. For customers electing to use an InfiniBand back-end network,
the configuration and implementation will remain the same as previous generations of
Isilon systems. Customers looking to add Isilon platforms (Isilon F800/F810, H600,
H5600, H500, H400, A200, and A2000) to an existing Isilon IB cluster that consisted of
earlier Isilon systems must configure the nodes with an InfiniBand back-end interface. The
Ethernet back-end network option is only supported in clusters that consist entirely of
Ethernet back-end nodes. In these configurations, only Ethernet back-end switches that
are provided and managed by Dell are supported.
The PowerScale Ethernet back-end connection options are detailed in the following table:
Table 1. Isilon Ethernet back-end options
Back-end option Compute compatibility
10 GbE SFP+ Isilon H400, Isilon A200, or Isilon A2000
40 GbE QSFP+ Isilon F800/F810, Isilon H600, Isilon H5600, Isilon H500, Isilon H400,
Isilon A200, or Isilon A2000
Note: Dell does not support connecting any other devices to the back-end switches.
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Overview Dell PowerScale storage platforms, powered by the Dell PowerScale OneFS operating
system, provide a powerful and simple scale-out storage architecture to speed up access
to massive amounts of unstructured data. Powered by the OneFS 9.x operating system,
the all-flash PowerScale platforms are available in these product lines:
• PowerScale F200: Provides the performance of flash storage in a cost-effective
form factor to address the needs of a wide variety of workloads.
Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview 5
PowerScale platform back-end network option
• PowerScale F600: With NVMe drives, the F600 provides larger capacity with
massive performance in a cost-effective compact form factor to power demanding
workloads.
• PowerScale F900: Provides the maximum performance of all-NVMe drives in a
cost-effective configuration to address the storage needs of demanding workloads.
Each node is 2U in height and hosts 24 NVMe SSDs.
Recent additions to the all-flash storage platform include the PowerScale F910, F710, and
F210.
• PowerScale F910: Latest next-generation all-flash nodes lineup and provides AI-
ready performance with the ultimate capacity in a highly dense 2U configuration.
Each node hosts 24 NVMe SSDs. F910 allows raw capacity to scale from 92 TB to
736 TB per node and up to 186 PB per cluster.
• PowerScale F710: Leveraging PowerEdge R660, delivering high performance and
improved density in a 1U platform with 10 all-flash NVMe SSD drives per node. The
F710 supports TLC or QLC drives and allows raw capacity to scale from 38 TB to
307 TB per node and up to 77 PB per cluster.
• PowerScale F210: Part of the next-generation all-NVMe lineup that delivers
significant performance gains over the previous generation in a cost-effective 1U
form factor with 4 all-flash NVMe SSD drives per node. The F210 allows raw
storage capacity to scale from 8 TB to 61 TB per node and up to 15 PB per cluster.
The PowerScale Hybrid NAS platforms are highly flexible and strike a balance between
large capacity and high-performance storage to provide support for a broad range of
enterprise file workloads.
• PowerScale H700: Provides optimum performance and value to support demanding
file workloads. The H700 provides capacity up to 1.2 PB per chassis.
• PowerScale H7000: High performance, high-capacity hybrid platform with up to 1.6
PB per chassis. The deep-chassis-based H7000 is an ideal to consolidate a range
of file workloads on a single platform.
PowerScale archive platforms provide the lowest cost approach to support both active
and cold archives.
• PowerScale A300: An ideal active archive storage solution that combines high
performance, near-primary accessibility, value, and ease of use. The A300 provides
between 120 TB and 1.2 PB per chassis and scales to 75 PB in a single cluster.
• PowerScale A3000: An ideal solution for high-performance, high-density, deep-
archive storage that safeguards data efficiently for long-term retention. The A3000
stores up to 1.6 PB per chassis and scales to 100 PB in a single cluster.
The PowerScale accelerator nodes include the PowerScale P100 performance
accelerator and the PowerScale B100 backup accelerator. Both accelerator types offer a
simple and flexible solution to provide incremental performance for specific compute-
bound workflows and to meet defined backup windows.
• PowerScale P100 performance accelerator is a node that adds performance to the
workflows on a PowerScale cluster that is generally composed of nodes that are
6 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
PowerScale platform back-end network option
CPU-bound. Each node provides additional CPU horsepower for compute-bound
applications and additional DRAM that can be used as L1 cache.
• PowerScale B100 backup accelerator provides the ability to back up a PowerScale
cluster using a two-way NDMP protocol. The B100 is delivered in a cost-effective
form factor to address the SLA targets and tape backup needs of a wide variety of
workloads.
The following table details the PowerScale Ethernet back-end connection options:
Table 2. PowerScale Ethernet back-end connection options
Back-end card options PowerScale nodes
200GbE (QSFP56) F910, F710
F910, F900, F710, F600, F210, F200
40/100 GbE (QSFP56)
P100, B100
F900, F600
40/100 GbE (QSFP28) H700, H7000
A300, A3000
F210, F200, F600
H700, H7000
10/25 GbE (SFP28)
A300, A3000
P100, B100
Notes:
The same NIC supports both 25 GbE and 10 GbE for the F210, F200, H700, H7000, A300,
A3000, P100, and B100. The same NIC supports both 100 GbE and 40 GbE for the F210, F710,
F910, F200, F600, F900, H700, H7000, A300, A3000, P100, and B100. The NIC speed change is
achieved by using different transceivers or cables.
The F910, F710, F210, F200, P100, and B100 nodes do not support a 25 GbE back-end
connection if they are configured with 100 GbE front-end connectivity.
New-generation PowerScale platforms with different back-end speeds can connect to the
same switch with Isilon nodes (Isilon F800, H600, H5600, H500, H400, A200, and A2000)
and not see performance issues. Consider the example of a mixed cluster of an archive
node (such as A200 or A2000) with 10 GbE on the back end and PowerScale nodes with
40 GbE or 100 GbE on the back end. In such clusters, both node types can connect to a
100 GbE back-end switch without affecting the performance of other nodes on the switch.
The 100 GbE back-end switch will provide 100 GbE to the ports servicing the high-
performance PowerScale nodes and 10 GbE to the archive or lower performing nodes
using breakout cables.
Ethernet back In legacy versions of Isilon OneFS, back-end data traffic uses SDP and IPoIB for
end management. SDP has fast failover and incorporates various InfiniBand-only features that
ensure optimum performance. However, because SDP only works over InfiniBand, a new
method was required to get optimal performance over the Ethernet back end. For this
reason, the new generation of PowerScale platforms now uses RBM over TCP on the
back-end switches.
Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview 7
PowerScale platform back-end network option
RBM now uses TCP, and the TCP stack has been enhanced to provide the performance
required to support the cluster communication. All the modifications of the TCP stack have
been made while conforming to the industry standard specification of the stack. The back-
end and front-end networks will use the same TCP stack and modifications to the
performance of the back-end TCP stack should not affect TCP traffic on the front end.
RBM over Ethernet will still provide fast failover.
Please note that starting from OneFS 9.10, PowerScale platforms also supports
InfiniBand back end on F210, F710, F910.
Configuration When installing a new Isilon cluster, the Configuration Wizard has not changed. It still
and monitoring prompts you for int-a, int-b, and failover range. All configuration and setup steps will be
the same regardless of InfiniBand or Ethernet option selected.
The following figures show the relative positioning of back-end ports provided in the
Compute Assembly for each Dell PowerScale/Isilon platform node type.
Figure 1. F800, F810, H600, H5600, H500, H400, A200, and A2000. H700, H7000, A300, and
A3000: Rear view
8 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Figure 2. F210: Rear view
Figure 3. F200: Rear view
Figure 4. F600: Rear view
Figure 5. F710: Rear view
Figure 6. F710 with front end IB NIC: Rear view
Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview 9
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Figure 7. F900: Rear view
Figure 8. F910: Rear view
Figure 9. F910 with front end IB NIC: Rear view
Figure 10. P100 and B100 accelerator nodes: Rear view
The following table provides configuration information for the back-end ports in
PowerScale platforms:
10 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Table 3. Configuration for int-a, int-b, and failover
Setting Description
Int-a network setting The network settings used by the int-a network. The int-a network is
used for communication between nodes.
Netmask The int-a network must be configured with IPv4.
IP range The int-a network must be on a separate or distinct subnet from an
int-b/failover network.
Int-b and failover The network settings used by the optional int-b/failover network.
network setting
Netmask The int-b network is used for communication between nodes and
provides redundancy with the int-a network.
IP range The int-b network must be configured with IPv4.
Failover IP range The int-a, int-b, and failover networks must be on separate or distinct
subnets.
The monitoring capabilities on PowerScale/Isilon back-end switches correspond to the
field replaceable unit (FRU) components such as power supply, the fan, or others.
Protocol and performance monitoring capability is not provided.
Note: Customers should not attempt to alter the back-end network configurations provided by
Dell. Any attempt to do so can result in a cluster-wide outage.
For SNMP capabilities, a customer may send an SNMP alert through the CELOG system.
In today’s back-end Ethernet world, we no longer have opensm topology files to view all
connected devices on the back-end network. If you want to know what is connected to the
fabric of back-end Ethernet (int-a or int-b), you can use the isi_dump_fabric int-a
(or int-b) command.
Sample Following are examples of cluster configurations with varying node types and the
configurations corresponding back-end connectivity infrastructure.
Example 1: All-performance Dell PowerScale 100 GbE back end
When using performance nodes (for example, F910), the back end must be 100/40 GbE
(10 GbE and 25 GbE are not supported).
Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview 11
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Figure 11. Sample configuration with 100 GbE back end
In this example, your configuration will include:
• (2) 100 GbE back-end switches
• (6) QSFP+/MPO back-end cables
• (6) Optics (If MPO cables used)
Example 2: Mixed environment of PowerScale 100 GbE and 25/10 GbE back
end
When mixing performance and archive nodes, use a 100 GbE infrastructure with 100 GbE
connections to the performance nodes. Also, use 8 x 10 GbE or 4 x 25 GbE breakout
cables (depending on switch support) to the archive nodes.
12 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Figure 12. Sample configuration of mixed environment of 100 GbE and 25/10 GbE back
end
In this example, your configuration will include:
• Two 100/40 GbE back-end switches
• Six QSFP+/MPO back-end cables
• Six optics (If MPO cables used)
• Four SFP28 to QSFP28 or 4 SFP+ to QSFP+ breakout cables
Example 3: Mixed environment of PowerScale 100 GbE and 25/10 GbE back
end
When mixing hybrid and archive nodes, use a 100 GbE infrastructure with 100 GbE
connections to the hybrid nodes and 4 x 25 GbE or 4 x 10 GbE breakout cables
(depending on node type) to the archive nodes.
Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview 13
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Figure 13. Sample configuration with backend connectivity of 100 GbE and 4 x 25 GbE
breakout cables
In this example, your configuration will include:
• Two 100/40 GbE back-end switches
• Eight QSFP28/MPO back-end cables
• Eight optics (If MPO cables used)
• Four SFP28 to QSFP28 or four SFP+ to QSFP+ breakout cables
Supported The following switches are supported for PowerScale back-end connectivity.
Ethernet back-
Table 4. Supported back-end switches
end switches
Vendor Model Native Switch speed Supported speeds EOL date
Dell Z9664 100GbE 25, 100 GbE
Arista 7308X3 100 GbE 25, 100 GbE
NVIDIA Spectrum-4 800 GbE 200 GbE
SN5600*
Dell S5232-ON 100 GbE 10, 25, 40, 100 GbE
Dell Z9264-ON 100 GbE 10, 25, 40, 100 GbE
Dell Z9100-ON 100 GbE 10, 25, 40, 100 GbE 1/31/2023
Dell S4112F-ON 10/100 GbE 10, 25, 100 GbE
Dell S4148F-ON 10 GbE 10/100 GbE 5/5/2023
Celestica D4040 40 GbE 40 GbE 3/31/2021
Arista DCS-7308 40 GbE 25, 40, 100 GbE 5/5/2023
Celestica D2024 10 GbE 10, 40 GbE 5/5/2023
14 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
PowerScale platform back-end network option
Vendor Model Native Switch speed Supported speeds EOL date
Celestica D2060 10 GbE 10, 40 GbE 3/31/2021
Arista DCS-7304 10 GbE 10, 40 GbE 5/5/2023
Note: Supported Ethernet back-end switches are listed in the PowerScale OneFS Supportability
and Compatibility Guide.
* Spectrum-4 SN5600 switch is supported via the Dell Technologies ETC program, please consult
Dell Technologies account team for more details. You need to configure Spectrum-4 manually to
set up for a PowerScale cluster. Refer to NVIDIA documentation for details about the installation
instruction. And please ensure the Spectrum 4 switches are running the version Cumulus Linux
5.9.1. This is the version that Dell Technologies tested and qualified.
Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview 15
Technical support and resources
Technical support and resources
Technical Dell.com/support is focused on meeting customer needs with proven services and
support support.
The Dell Technologies Info Hub provides expertise that helps to ensure customer success
on Dell storage platforms.
Related Related resources include:
resources • Dell PowerScale Leaf-Spine Network Best Practices
• Dell Leaf-Spine Installation Guide
16 Dell PowerScale: Ethernet Back-end Network Overview
