Host Initiators Networking

Everpure Cloud Dedicated for AWS
Audience
Public
Technology Integrations
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Source Type
Documentation

Overview

Host Initiators Networking describes how application hosts connect to Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated (PSCD) over the data network so those hosts can discover and use PSCD volumes. In AWS, that means the iSCSI path between the PSCD iSCSI subnet and the host initiator subnet must be routable, and the design can use connectivity patterns such as same-VPC routing, VPC peering, or cross-account peering depending on where the hosts live.

Key Benefts

The primary win is reliable host-to-storage connectivity without overcomplicating the network design. When host initiators are placed correctly and the network path is sized appropriately, you get predictable attachment of PSCD volumes, cleaner high-availability behavior, and better throughput scaling through multiple iSCSI sessions instead of depending on a single TCP path.

A second benefit is cost and operational efficiency. Keeping EC2 host subnets in the same Availability Zone as the PSCD iSCSI subnet helps avoid unnecessary data transfer egress charges, while using private routing and purpose-built storage subnets keeps the design easier to troubleshoot and support.

Audience & Use Cases

This topic is for architects, cloud administrators, and storage or platform teams deploying PSCD on AWS and attaching block storage to EC2 hosts.

Use it when you need to:

  • connect EC2 application hosts to PSCD volumes over iSCSI,
  • decide between same-VPC, peered-VPC, or cross-account connectivity,
  • improve host-side throughput by increasing iSCSI session count or validating MTU strategy, or
  • prepare a production-ready network layout before launching the PSCD CloudFormation stack.

How it Works

  1. Deploy PSCD with dedicated private subnets for its system, replication, iSCSI, and management interfaces, or use a simpler single-subnet design for quick testing.
  2. Place or connect host initiators so the PSCD iSCSI subnet and host subnet can exchange traffic through local VPC routing or approved peering patterns.
  3. Allow the required storage traffic, especially TCP 3260 for iSCSI, through the relevant security groups and network controls.
  4. Configure the host to use multiple iSCSI sessions and appropriate multipathing so I/O uses the intended optimized paths.
  5. Validate bandwidth, MTU, and instance placement so the host network is not the bottleneck.

Prerequisites

Required AWS-side prerequisites include:

  • a VPC with private subnets for PSCD, plus a public subnet/NAT path for the system interface,
  • security groups for iSCSI, management, and replication,
  • an IAM role with sufficient permissions, an EC2 key pair, and a PSCD license key,
  • VPC endpoints for Amazon S3 and DynamoDB, and VPC DNS resolution enabled, and
  • enough private IP space and EC2 vCPU quota for the selected PSCD model.

Networking requirements to call out:

  • all PSCD subnets must be private,
  • the system subnet must have outbound internet access so PSCD can phone home to Pure1,
  • the iSCSI security group must allow inbound TCP 3260, replication must allow TCP 8117, and management must allow 22, 80, 8084, and 443 as documented in deployment.

Support matrix guidance:

  • deploy only in supported AWS regions,
  • note that some otherwise supported regions still have Availability Zones that lack the required c5n.9xlarge and c5n.18xlarge resources, and
  • if you plan to use ActiveCluster with Pure1 Mediator, Oregon (us-west-2) is a special case and is not supported for that configuration.

Deployment

To start building, go to the AWS Marketplace listing for Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated, subscribe, continue to configuration, choose the version and region, and launch the CloudFormation stack. From there, supply the stack name, array name, license key, key pair, subnets, security groups, and IAM role.

Additional Information