Dell EMC Exam D-XTR-DS-A-24 Topic 2 Question 11 Discussion

Actual exam question for Dell EMC's D-XTR-DS-A-24 exam

Question #: 11
Topic #: 2

A storage administrator is configuring SAN switches and zoning to connect a four X-Brick XtremlO array. A VMware ESXi server is hosted on a blade chassis with 16 HBA ports.

In addition, the SAN consists of two separate SAN switches.

What is the recommended XtremlO best practice for zoning?

AFirst Storage Controllers' HBA ports to the first switch
Second Storage Controllers' HBA ports to the second switch
Multipath all host ports to single LUNs per zone

BTwo HBA connections per host
Single initiator/multiple targets per zone
Maximum of 16 paths for each device
Host connected to each SAN switch

CSingle Storage Controller HBA port to the first switch
Single Storage Controller HBA port to the second switch
Single initiator/multiple targets per zone
Maximum of 4 paths for each LUN per zone

DTwo HBA connections per host connected to a single switch
Multiple initiators/multiple targets per zone
Maximum of 4 paths for each LUN per zone

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: B

For a four X-Brick XtremIO array, the recommended best practice for zoning in a SAN environment with VMware ESXi servers is to have two HBA connections per host, with each host connected to both SAN switches. This configuration allows for redundancy and high availability. The zoning should be set up with a single initiator (the HBA on the host) to multiple targets (the storage controllers' HBA ports) per zone. This ensures that each host has multiple paths to the storage, allowing for failover and load balancing. The maximum number of paths for each device should be 16 to prevent exceeding the path limits and to maintain optimal performance1.

Dell Technologies community discussions on XtremIO Zoning Best Practices provide insights into the recommended zoning configurations for different XtremIO setups1.

The Host Configuration Guide for XtremIO, which can be found on the Dell EMC support site, offers detailed instructions on zoning best practices for XtremIO storage arrays2.

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by Tijuana at Sep 15, 2024, 10:40 PM

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Jacob

4 months ago

Hold up, did they just say 'XtremlO'? Sounds like someone had a little too much fun naming that array!

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Carolynn

4 months ago

Hmm, these options are making my head spin. I just want the one that will keep my storage running smoothly!

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Tegan

4 months ago

D allows for more flexibility with the multiple initiators and targets, but I'm not sure about the 4 path limit.

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Asuncion

3 months ago

User 4: Option A does seem more straightforward with zoning.

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Alfred

3 months ago

User 3: Maybe we should consider option A for better zoning.

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Chantay

3 months ago

User 2: I agree, but the 4 path limit might be a concern.

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Kenda

3 months ago

User 1: I think option D is the way to go for more flexibility.

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Nickole

5 months ago

B looks good to me, with the multipath and host connections to both switches.

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Marsha

4 months ago

Host connected to each SAN switch

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Hyun

4 months ago

Maximum of 16 paths for each device

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Kimbery

4 months ago

Single initiator/multiple targets per zone

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Alita

4 months ago

B) Two HBA connections per host

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Micah

5 months ago

Option C seems too restrictive, I think we need more paths for high availability.

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Wilbert

4 months ago

That makes sense. Option D seems like a good balance between availability and simplicity.

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Iesha

4 months ago

I think option D might be a better choice. It allows for multiple paths per LUN for higher availability.

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Wilbert

4 months ago

I agree, option C does seem limiting. We need more paths for better availability.

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Kayleigh

5 months ago

Option A looks good to me. Spreading the host ports across the two switches and using multipath should give you a reliable and scalable SAN configuration.

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