Before We Start 

Dear Customer,

Thank you for choosing InfiniBox from Infinidat.

As a part of our service to customers, a Technical Advisor (TA) from Infinidat will contact you and guide you through the initial steps of the InfiniBox shipping and implementation process.

Infinidat Technical Advisors are the technical focal point from the customer to Infinidat, and vice versa.

We hope you find the Infinidat journey as exciting as we do.

Yours,

The Infinidat team

Step 1: InfiniBox Site Survey (ISS)

For every InfiniBox ordered, your TA will provide you with an interactive web form to gather the initial information for the InfiniBox configuration, destination environment, and general logistics and limitations.

If this is your first InfiniBox, it is recommended to complete the ISS with your TA.

The ISS contains four parts that are described below in more detail:

• ORDER INFORMATION [ Part 1 ] – Customer contact information and the InfiniBox configuration requirements.
• MANUFACTURING [ Part 2 ] – Information required for Infinidat to manufacture your InfiniBox.
• SHIPMENT [ Part 3 ] – Required information for shipment and site readiness.
• SUPPORT [ Part 4 ] – Required information for the software installation, and for ongoing support from Infinidat Customer Support.

Part 1: Order Information

Provide Infinidat with your site information and your order details.

• Customer and shipping information
  • Contact information for the InfiniBox shipment
  • Information regarding your DC and the final destination of the InfiniBox
  • Contact information for support, replacement of parts, etc.
    Please provide at least two contacts per topic.
  • Organization domains -  Infinidat Customer Support (CS) whitelists all the domains of our customers
    Customers in the whitelist can register for http://support.Infinidat.com to open support tickets and access our documentation, knowledge base, and repository.
• Power configuration
  • 3-phase 16 amps, or single-phase 32 amps
  • Cables – accessed from above or below the rack
• FC configuration
  • Hybrid InfiniBox models: 
    • Includes 8 FC ports per node; 24 ports in total
    • By default, the FC ports are 16Gb, but 32Gb ports can be ordered if needed
  • InfiniBox SSA models:
    • Includes 8 FC ports per node; 24 ports in total
    •  All FC ports are 32Gb
• Ethernet configuration
  • The Ethernet configuration options are the same for all InfiniBox models
  • On the bottom row of the patch panel, the leftmost ports for each node are either:
    • 4 25Gb Optic SFP+ per node; 12 ports in total
    • 4 10Gb Optic SFP+ ports per node; 12 ports in total
    • 4 10Gb RJ45 Copper ports per node; 12 ports in total
  • For each node, the 2 Ethernet ports to the right of those ports are either:
    • 2 10Gb Optic SFP+ ports per node; 6 ports in total
    • 2 10Gb RJ45 Copper ports per node; 6 ports in total
• IP address requirements
  • For management purposes, 5 IP addresses are required
    • 1 IP address for the management port of each of the InfiniBox's 3 nodes 
    • 1 floating IP address for management
    • 1 IP address for the SA (Support Appliance), used for remote connectivity
  • For NFS (data) purposes, 6 IP addresses are required
  • For replication services, 7 IP addresses are required
• Physical cable requirements
  • 4 Ethernet cables (RJ45 connector) for management and SA connectivity
  • At least 3 Optic or Copper cables for data services (NFS, Replication, iSCSI)

Part 2: Manufacturing (MAN)

Part 3: Shipment (LGS)

Part 4: Support (CS)

Step 2: Delivery

Before the machine arrives, a logistics company appointed by Infinidat will contact you to schedule an onsite ‘Physical Site Survey’ to check for potential delivery issues, including clearance of doors and corridors, freight elevator size, etc.
Unless specified otherwise, the InfiniBox will be delivered to its final destination in the DC.

• Please make sure your DC is ready to accept your new InfiniBox. This includes:
  • Power
  • Floor space
  • Network cables
• Your TA will contact you to schedule an installation date after the InfiniBox is delivered.
• Infinidat will provide you with the names and details of the engineers who will need access to the DC for the installation. Please make sure they are given access ahead of time.

The following describes the typical installation process:

1. Place the InfiniBox in the DC.
2. Insert the drives into the enclosures, and turn on the machine.
3. Connect to the machine via its SA port and open an SSH tunnel to allow Infinidat customer support to remotely connect. This requires internet connectivity (WiFi, remote connection via the SA).
   • Port 443 must be open, outgoing, to rss02.infinidat.com.
     For more information, see https://support.infinidat.com/hc/en-us/articles/202319392-TCP-and-UDP-ports-required-for-Infinidat-products.
4. Assign the allocated IP addresses to the InfiniBox, as described in Part 1: Order Information.
5. A remote tunnel is initiated, and Infinidat support takes over the rest of the installation.
6. Final tests and log collection ensure that the machine is in perfect operating condition.

Infinidat is not responsible for initial environment configuration (pools, hosts and volumes, replication, etc.). However, if you need assistance or guidance with any of the above, contact your TA.

Some installations require different handling of the rack.

• If the conditions at your site require the rack to be tilted or lifted, Infinidat may be required to assemble it onsite.
• Alternatively, InfiniBox can be installed within one of your own racks.

Step 3: Installation

These processes are more time consuming. Generally, another half a day is required for the InfiniBox assembly.

Step 4: Operations

InfiniBox Connectivity

These following are diagrams of InfiniBox’s patch panel. As of today, there are two choices.

• Copper Ethernet configuration

• Optic Ethernet configuration

In these patch panel diagrams:

• The three color-marks refer to the three controllers (nodes).
• The upper row contains 24x8G Fibre Channel ports.
• In the lower row:
  • The leftmost 4 Ethernet ports of each node are either 10Gb Optic, or 25Gb Optic, or 10Gb Copper.
  • The next 2 Ethernet ports of each node are either 10Gb Optic, or 10Gb Copper.
  • The next port of each node is a Management port.
  • Only the rightmost node includes a port for the SA (Support Appliance), used for remote connectivity to the system.

Ethernet

For Ethernet connectivity for production:

• It is recommended to use two switches for resiliency purposes.
• Connect each node with at least one cable per switch (2 per node, and 6 cables in total).
• You can double the number of cables to improve performance and resiliency.
• You can use LACP if two or more Ethernet ports are connected from the same node to the same switch.
• You can use VLANs.
• You can run multiple services (iSCSI, NFS, replication) over the same physical cables.

Fibre Channel

For Fibre Channel connectivity:

• It is recommended to use two fabrics for resiliency purposes.
• Connect each node with at least one cable per fabric (2 per node, and 6 cables in total).
• You can double, triple, or quadruple the number of cables to improve performance and resiliency.
• Refer to our best practices for zoning at InfiniBox Best Practices for Setting Up Fibre Channel.

Host Connectivity

An easy way to check host readiness and to configure multipath is by using Infinidat’s Host PowerTools. This package can be downloaded for free from the support portal or from the Infinidat repository: https://repo.Infinidat.com/

Additional resources can be found on our community portal https://code.Infinidat.com/

Training

Many parts of the InfiniBox GUI are self-explanatory. Basic initial training will be provided by your TA if needed.

Infinidat also offers its customers a special two-day admin training and an additional 1-day Champion training. Certification exams are available for ICA (Infinidat Certified Administrator), and ICC (Infinidat Certified Champion).
For further information, contact your TA / Sales team.

Support Cases

Customers have several ways to open a support ticket:

• The preferred (and quickest) way to open a ticket is via email to Infinidat customer support. mailto://support@Infinidat.com
• Use the Infinidat support dashboard - https://support.Infinidat.com/
• Call centers 24x7x365 - Infinidat worldwide call centers
• Contact your TA.

Thank you,

The Infinidat team