4.1 Planning Floor Space

Floor space and other requirements are:

• The cabinets require approximately three feet of space in the front and three feet of space at the back for access by service personnel.
• Power and interface cables should be kept out of the way of foot traffic. Cables can be routed inside walls, under the floor, through the ceiling, or in protective channels. Interface cables should be routed away from motors and other sources of magnetic or radio frequency interference.
• SPARCstorage arrays can be located up to 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) from the system cabinets.
• System cabinets can be located up to 100 meters (330 feet) from each other.

4.1.1 SPARCcluster 1000 High Availability System

Determine the floor plan layout for your installation.

Figure 4-1 and Figure 4-2 are examples of floor plans for the minimum and maximum configurations respectively.

Figure 4-1

Figure 4-2

4.1.2 SPARCcluster 2000 High Availability System

Determine the floor plan layout for your installation.

Figure 4-3 and Figure 4-4 are examples of floor plans for minimum and maximum configurations respectively.

Figure 4-3

Figure 4-4

4.2 Power Requirements and Options

Each cabinet should have a dedicated AC breaker panel. The cabinets should not share this breaker panel with unrelated equipment. Each cabinet has a single power cord that supplies AC power to the internal power distribution unit. Internal components (terminal concentrator, boot disks, server chassis and SPARCstorage arrays -- as appropriate) are plugged into the power distribution unit in factory-configured systems.

All rack-mounted components in the cabinets can be connected to appropriate power outlets external to the cabinets to increase high availability.

4.2.1 Electrical Circuits Required

The following requirements apply to the:

• SPARCcluster 1000 Server cabinet -- housing two servers and three SPARCstorage arrays
• SPARCcluster 2000 Server cabinet (one of two) -- each cabinet housing one server and one or two SPARCstorage arrays
• Expansion cabinet -- housing up to five SPARCstorage arrays

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Caution - Do not power other electrical equipment from the cabinet AC power distribution unit; system reliability may be adversely affected.

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Each cabinet requires a 30A circuit. Two AC connector plug types are available. The NEMA L6-30P connector is used for 200-240V North American operation. Refer to Figure 4-5. The 32A, single-phase, IEC 309 connector is available for 220-240V international operation. Refer to Figure 4-6.

Figure 4-5

Figure 4-6

4.3 Ethernet Networks

4.3.1 Public Client Network

This network is per customer choice. The mode of network communication is Ethernet at time of publication.

4.3.2 Private Node-to-Node Network

SPARCcluster High Availability systems follow the IEEE standard for 100BASE-X Ethernet.

4.3.3 RS-232C/RS-423A

This section addresses asynchronous cables used to connect your Sun^(TM) servers and Workstation^(TM) to the terminal concentrator.

Most systems allow you to select between two EIA interface standards, RS-232C or RS-423A.

Differences between the two standards are noted in Table 4-1, but an overlap in values of certain parameters exists. When interconnecting RS-423A with =RS-232C circuits, remember that performance is limited to that of RS-232C.

Table 4-1

	Open Circuit V		oltages
Recommended Standard	Minimum	Maximum	Without Damage
RS-232C	. 3.0V	. 25.0V	. 25.0V
RS-423A	. 4.0V	. 6.0V	. 12.0V

Table 4-1 shows a common operating area between .4.0 and .6.0 Volts. However, there are differences between the two standards involving rise time, data rate, and cable length specifications.

RS-232C specifies that the rise time through the . 3 Volt transition should not exceed 4% of the signal element duration.

RS-423 generally requires much slower rise times which are specified from 10%-90% of the total signal amplitude to reduce cross talk for operation over longer distances.

4.3.4 Cable Requirements

Evaluate the routing of cables to all equipment. Keep cable runs short to increase interface reliability. Other considerations include:

• Make cable runs to equipment outside the computer room as direct as possible.
• Place equipment in the computer room in a way to minimize cable run length to units outside the room.
• Where necessary, allow extra cable length to:

  · allow cables to be routed clear of strong radio frequency interference (RFI) fields.

  · permit system expansion or relocation.

4.3.4.1 Cable Length

Where possible, use short serial-interface cables for 9600 baud. Longer cables are allowed, provided the resulting load capacitance, measured at the interface point and including the signal terminator, does not exceed 2500 picofarads.

For further information see "EIA STANDARD RS-232C" and "EIA STANDARD RS-423-A". EIA RS-232C cabling specification is available from:

Electronics Industries Association 2001 I Street N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20006 USA Phone: (202) 457-4900

4.3.4.2 Shield Ground (Drain)

Some interface applications require use of shielded cable to minimize radio frequency interference (RFI) or for other reasons. When used, connect the shield to frame ground at one or both ends depending on the specific application.

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Note - On Sun Microsystems DB-25 connectors, the shield ground lead can be connected to Pin 1 at the Sun system end (Protective Ground).

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4.3.4.3 Generic Pinouts

Table 4-2 provides a cross reference of pinouts for Sun Workstations to standard EIA RS-232C and CCITT designations.

Table 4-2

		Designation
Pin # (25 pin)	Signal Description	EIA	CCITT
1	Protective Ground	AA	101
2	Transmitted Data	BA	103
3	Received Data	BB	104
4	Request To Send	CA	105
5	Clear To Send	CB	106
6	Data Set Ready	CC	107
7	Signal Ground	AB	102
8	Data Carrier Detect	CF	109
15	Transmit Clock In (DCE Source)	DB	114
17	Receive Clock In (DCE Source)	DD	115
20	Data Terminal Ready	CD	108.2
24	Transmit Clock Out (DTE Source)	DA	113

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Note - Sun Microsystems cannot guarantee proper system operation when maximum specified cable lengths are exceeded.

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4.4 Coaxial Ethernet Cabling

For small Ethernet installations, you can purchase 15-meter lengths of Ethernet cable from Sun Microsystems. Use these 15-meter lengths only as single pieces, not as extensions with other cables. These branch cables come with two transceiver types:

• Vampire tap
• N-type in-line

Workstations can serve as gateways between physically separate Ethernet links. When a gateway is in place, users perceive a single logical network, and have transparent access to all the systems on both physical networks.

A gateway workstation simply has one Ethernet connection to each separate Ethernet cable. The software that performs the inter-network routing is included in the standard Solaris software release.

4.4.1 Ethernet Design Considerations

Note the following details when designing your Ethernet network:

• Use standard 802.3, 50-ohm Ethernet cable, capable of a 10-megabit/second transmission rate.
• Cable purchased in bulk should have marks on the casing every 2.5 meters.
• Attach transceivers, taps, and/or repeaters only at the 2.5 meter intervals on the cable.
• The maximum length of any standard Ethernet cable segment is 500 meters. This may consist of one continuous piece of cable or segments, but the segments must be in factors of 2.5 meters. (Spacing taps closer or farther apart disrupts cable impedance characteristics.) Cut the Ethernet cable only at 2.5-meter marks.
• The minimum length of any segment is approximately 24 meters.
• Connect the cable sheath conductor to earth ground.
• The distance between transceivers and/or taps must be in increments of 2.5 meters, and no closer than 2.5 meters from each other, and no farther apart than 500 meters.
• The path between two transceivers and/or taps cannot have more than one repeater.
• Install 50-ohm terminators on all ends of the Ethernet cable. Install them in a transceiver outlet or at the end of the cable. (for example, in the last transceiver at the end of the cable).

• The transceiver cable between the transceiver and workstation or terminal should be no longer than 50 meters.

If planning a large network (more than 40 workstations), you may improve local performance by grouping and connecting workstation-client clusters in small physical networks with gateway workstations to create your larger logical network.

Arranging workstation-client clusters according to work function, like engineering, accounting, and so on, is one possible scheme. Smaller networks (fewer than 40 workstations) may not benefit from this scheme. Figure 4-7 shows the elements used in the installation process.

Figure 4-7

Determine whether to install a terminator. Refer to Table 4-3, which lists the cabling limitations for Ethernet.

Table 4-3

Cable Segment	Length in Meters
Allowed contiguous length of cable segments	1 23.4, 70.2, 117.0, and 500.0
Distance between transceivers (multiples-of)	2 2.5
Minimum length of coaxial cable segments	23.4
Maximum length of transceiver "drop" cable	50.0

Figure 4-8 shows an example of a typical network setup. The server system can be any one of the systems in this figure.

Figure 4-8

If a terminator is required, install a 50-ohm terminator on the unused transceiver N connector or the end of the coaxial cable. Use a female double N-type connector.

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Note - Sun equipment conforms to the Ethernet 10BASE-T standard, which states that the link test function should always be enabled on both the node and the hub. If you have problems verifying the connection between your Sun equipment and your hub, you need to verify that your hub also has the link test function enabled. Refer to the Troubleshooting chapter in the applicable server system service manual and the manual provided with your hub for more information about the link test function.

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4.4.2 Preparing the Ethernet Network

Sun Microsystems follows the IEEE standard for 10BASE-T Ethernet, also known as twisted-pair Ethernet.

For 10BASE-T, two pairs of unshielded wires connect to each workstation or a server. One pair transmits and the other receives. The 10BASE-T cable is made up of twisted pairs. These cables use RJ-45 connectors.

The cable connects the computer to a hardware interface called a hub. A coaxial or optical fiber cable connects the hub to the network. Single- and multiple-connection hubs are available commercially.

The maximum length of twisted-pair cables is 100 meters (330 feet). If cables connect together through a wall socket, the combined length should not exceed 100 meters. Figure 4-9 summarizes implementation of twisted-pair Ethernet.

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Note - Multiplexer boxes require a transceiver when used with the Ethernet applications described here. Although these transceivers are compatible with Sun equipment, Sun Microsystems does not guarantee the performance of any component not purchased from Sun.

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Note - Many transceivers are compatible with both level-1 and level-2 Ethernet. To operate these transceivers with Sun equipment, set the device for level-2 operation using the manufacturer's instructions.

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Figure 4-9

Set up Ethernet using Sun-supplied or third-party components. Read any applicable manufacturer instructions to obtain the best results.