Dell EMC Exam D-XTR-DS-A-24 Topic 5 Question 22 Discussion

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

Question #: 22
Topic #: 5

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 Shannan at Apr 07, 2025, 09:46 AM

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Annita

2 months ago

Option D looks tempting, but I don't think I'd want to be the one trying to explain a 'maximum of 4 paths' configuration to my boss. Gotta go with C on this one, keep it simple and reliable.

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Cathern

2 months ago

Ah, the age-old debate of single vs. multiple initiators. Personally, I'd go with option B. It's like having a personal chauffeur versus Uber - you can't beat the convenience of multiple targets!

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Rosalind

2 months ago

Definitely, it's always good to have multiple targets for better performance.

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Mona

2 months ago

I agree, having two HBA connections per host seems like a solid choice.

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Alpha

2 months ago

Option B sounds like the way to go. More connections, more flexibility.

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Millie

3 months ago

I'm not sure about the 'single initiator/multiple targets' part in option C. Isn't that a bit limiting? I'd lean more towards option B, it seems to offer more flexibility.

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