Avamar GEN4 Network Preparation for install

I get asked quite often during the planning phase for Avamar GEN4 Installs on what the network requirements are for the software install.  I thought I would go ahead and post up some information that I usually pass along; this is for GEN4 Hardware only.

Single Node Avamar:

The minimum requirement for networking is 1 CAT6 Copper cable for the primary backup port (GB1 eth0), this is a connection to the the Customer Network Switch. If there is a second switch available to provide redundancy, then a 2nd CAT 6 Copper cable can be run to Customer Network Switch 2 for the secondary port (GB3 eth2). Backup port GB1 (eth0) and GB3 (eth2) are bonded together in the SUSE Linux OS software running on the Avamar Single Node and are an Active/Standby configuration and does not require Link Aggregation on the Customer Switches.

Multi-Node Avamar:

The minimum requirement for networking is 1 CAT6 Copper cable for the primary backup port (GB1 eth0) for each node of the Avamvar GRID including the Utility Node, storage node and NDMP physical nodes. This is a connection to the Customer Network Switch. If there is a second Customer switch available to provide redundancy, then a 2nd CAT 6 Copper cable can be ran to the Customer Network Switch 2 for the secondary port (GB3 eth2). Backup port GB1 (eth0) and GB3 (eth2) are bonded together in the SUSE Linux OS software running on the Avamar Utility and Storage Nodes and are an Active/Standby configuration and does not require Link Aggregation on the Customer Switches. So for a 1 Utility Node and 3 Storage Node GRID, 4 CAT 6 Copper cables are required for backup, for switch redundancy, 8 cables would be required. Avamar GEN 4

 

Internal Network Specifications:

The ADS Allied Telesys Switches do not require connectivity to the Customer Network All nodes are plugged in to internal dedicated ADS switches through Gb2 (eth1) and Gb4 (eth3) as primary and secondary interfaces of bond1. The internal network is a redundant, high availability, fault-tolerant network connecting all nodes in the cluster for RAIN, rebuilding, and maintenance functions. It carries all Avamar internal operations and data management traffic.

 

Example of Single Backup Network (No Redundancy) from EMC Avamar documentation.

Example of Backup Network with High Availability EMC Avamar documentation.

 

  

iDRAC Remote Management:

Through iDRAC, Administrators have full control of the server hardware and operating system from any client system running a Web browser. Barring a power outage, a network outage, or an unusual hardware problem that affects the iDRAC itself, the iDRAC console should remain available, even if the operating system is down or unresponsive. An ADS Gen4 node can communicate with a management network either by sharing the eth0 Ethernet port (Gb1) on the node or through a dedicated port (10/100 Mb integrated network interface) *If you choose to separate the iDRAC traffic to a dedicated port, then an additional CAT6 Copper Cable will be required for each node of the Avamar GRID, Utility Node, Storage Nodes or physical NDMP nodes.