[CentOS] iSCSI best practices

[Ross Walker]

On Dec 9, 2011, at 11:27 AM, Alan McKay <alan.mckay at gmail.com> wrote:

> So 2 questions :
> - how important is it to have it on its own network?

The traffic should definitely be segregated for security reasons and to make sure there is minimal crosstalk. Whether to put on a separate switch or VLAN depends on your current network capacity.

> - is it OK to use an unmanaged switch (as long as it is Gigabit), or are
> there some features of a managed switch that are desirable/required with
> iSCSI?

Unmanaged should be used only if you plan to restrict it to iSCSI traffic only and then get a high quality one.

Managed switches come in very high quality versions that give a flexibility, security and performance.

The Dell 6224 or 6248 switches are priced low and provide excellent features for iSCSI. Plus they can have up to 4 10Gbps ports that can be used for uplinks OR 10Gbps endpoints.

-Ross