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Asset ID: 1-71-1003750.1
Update Date:2011-05-23
Keywords:

Solution Type  Technical Instruction Sure

Solution  1003750.1 :   How to choose an Initiator Host Type for Sun Storage[TM] 6000 and Sun StorageTek[TM] 2500 Arrays  


Related Items
  • Sun Storage 6580 Array
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  • Sun Storage Common Array Manager (CAM)
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  • GCS>Sun Microsystems>Storage - Disk>Modular Disk - 6xxx Arrays
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PreviouslyPublishedAs
205283


Applies to:

Sun Storage 6140 Array - Version: Not Applicable to Not Applicable - Release: N/A to N/A
Sun Storage 6540 Array - Version: Not Applicable to Not Applicable   [Release: N/A to N/A]
Sun Storage 6130 Array - Version: Not Applicable to Not Applicable   [Release: N/A to N/A]
Sun Storage 6180 Array - Version: Not Applicable to Not Applicable   [Release: N/A to N/A]
Sun Storage 6580 Array - Version: Not Applicable to Not Applicable   [Release: N/A to N/A]
All Platforms

Goal

To discuss this information further with Oracle experts and industry peers, we encourage you to review, join or start a discussion in the My Oracle Support Community - 6000 and 2500 Series RAID Arrays

Choice of initiator Host Type affects the behavior of the array's reaction to I/O requests to volumes. The correct host type must be selected to ensure proper host communication to the array.  Failure to choose the correct host type can potentially result in, and not limited to, undesired I/O issues and unexpected multipathing software behavior.

Solution


This document assumes you understand the differences between explicit and implicit failover in the context of storage multipathing. For more information on implicit and explicit failover, please refer to <Document: 1003652.1>

This document makes no claim to the supportability of a particular configuration or operating environment; it only attempts to describe typical software used in conjunction with the Host Type selection as a reference. Please refer to respective array release notes in the Oracle Technology Network > Oracle Documentation for firmware and host hardware/software requirements.

A. Identify available Host Types for a particular array.

Using Common Array Manager browser user interface (BUI):
  1. select storage by clicking the corresponding name in Storage Systems screen or from navigation pane on the left
  2. from navigation pane on the left, expand Physical Device, select Initiators
  3. click the New... button to launch the Create New Initiator wizard dialog
  4. the Host Type drop down list would show the available host type definitions for your array
From support data:
  • The file NVSRAMdata.txt in the supportData bundle contains a listing of available Host Type.
  • Note that not all host type has corresponding selection available in CAM (i.e. DSP or "Sun StorEdge" which has been obsoleted).

B. Select appropriate Host Type that matches the host configuration.

Host Type
Brief Description
Solaris (with Traffic Manager)
Choose this if you are using Solaris with Sun StorageTek Traffic Manager Software (STMS) (aka MPxIO).
Solaris (with Veritas DMP)
This is for Solaris hosts using Symantec Veritas Dynamic Multi-Pathing (DMP) driver with implicit failover.
Solaris (with Target Port Group Support)
Not supported as of this writing due to Solaris TPGS  issue.  Please refer to CAM 6.6.0 Release Notes.
Sun StorageTek 53xx NAS Gateway
This is for connection behind a Sun StorageTek 53xx NAS Gateway device, such as a 5320G, through SAN or direct attach FC.  The NAS gateway uses the volumes from the array as storage for its services to IP network attached clients.
Windows 2000/Server 2003 non-clustered
This is for non-clustered Windows 2000/Server 2003 and also Windows 2008 operating environments, and requires a multipathing driver that uses explicit failover such as Windows native MPIO driver, or RDAC driver for older Windows version.
Windows 2000/Server 2003 clustered
This is for clustered Windows 2000/Server 2003 and also Windows 2008 operating environments, and requires a multipathing driver that uses explicit failover such as Windows native MPIO driver, or RDAC driver for older Windows version.
Windows 2000/Server 2003 non-clustered (with Veritas DMP)
This is for non-clustered Windows 2000/Server 2003 operating environments with implicit failover as in Symantec Veritas DMP.
Windows 2000/Server 2003 clustered (with Veritas DMP)
This is for clustered Windows 2000/Server 2003 operating environments with implicit failover as in Symantec Veritas DMP.
AIX
This is for AIX with an explicit failover driver type such as SUNdac Plugin and CAMBEX.
AIX (with Veritas DMP)
This is for AIX hosts using Symantec Veritas DMP driver for implicit failover.
AIX Failover
This is for AIX Failover driver support with implicit failover.
IBM - SAN Volume Contoller
This is for compatibility with IBM's SAN Volume Controller storage virtualization hardware.
HPUX
This is for all HP/UX operating environment using implicit failover multipathing, it would be a driver like Symantec Veritas Dynamic Multi-Pathing(DMP), or the native HP/UX LVM software.
Linux
This is for all Linux operating environment using explicit failover via mpp/RDAC driver.
Linux AVT (DMP support)
This is for all Linux operating environment using implicit failover via Symantec Veritas DMP.
Netware failover
This is for Netware hosts using implicit failover drivers like MPE for Netware.
VMware
For Linux or VMware ESX 3.5 and later using explicit failover with VMotion.
HPUX (with Target Port Group Support)
For HPUX with I/O path failover software LVM/PVLinks/NativeMPIO and node failover software MC/Service Guard.

 
Obsolete Host Types
Brief Description
Sun StorEdge
This allows connectivity to a legacy Sun StorEdge 6920 array through its DSP.
Irix
This is for all Irix operating environment using explicit failover multipathing.
Windows NT Clustered (SP5 or higher)
This is for Windows NT clusters using an explicit failover mechanism like STMS or RDAC.
Windows NT Non-Clustered (SP5 or higher)
This is for non-clustered Windows NT, using explicit failover software like STMS or RDAC.

 



Internal Comments

Summary:
This document is based on the NVSRAM bundled in CAM 6.6.0.  NVSRAM setting may
change in future releases, just as it did before.

Details:
Support data collected from an array would often show Host Type being a short
name taken from the NVSRAM host type definition. To map the short name to the
longer name, from the NVSRAMdata.txt host type regions definition, locate
REGION_HOST_TYPE_DEPENDENT_DATA, the first one corresponds to INDEX 0, the next
is INDEX 1 and so on,  the short name is ascii encoded in the first few bytes
of each region.  Once located the shortname and therefore, the INDEX, you can
then look at the table at the beginning of NVSRAMdata.txt which shows the host
type INDEX vs. the longer, more readable name.  Note that this long name is not
necessarily the same as the one shown in CAM's drop down list.

Automatic Volume Transfer (AVT) is LSI's terminology for implicit failover,
AVT Enabled means implicit failover. For more information on implicit failover,
please review Technical Instruction Solution: 205157.  It is not enough to
simply choose a host type with AVT enabled/disabled that matches the host's
multipathing driver, there are other configurable behavior in each host type
definition (reservation, lun reporting, etc).  The full details of host type
region configurables can be found in LSI's NVSRAM document for specific
firmware releases, this doc is not generally available beyond tier3 support and
PDE.

A sample snippet of NVSRAMdata.txt taken from a 6780 with 7.60 firmware:

NVSRAM Version = N7091-760843-003

NVSRAM Host Type Table

         NVSRAM HOST TYPE INDEX DEFINITIONS

         INDEX        AVT STATUS  TYPE
         0            Enabled     Sun StorEdge NAS Gateway
         1            Disabled    Windows 2000/Server 2003 nonclustered
         2 (Default)  Disabled    Solaris (with Traffic Manager)
         3            Enabled     HPUX
         4            Disabled    AIX
         5            Enabled     LNXAVT
         6            Disabled    Linux
         7            Enabled     IBM TS SAN VCE
         8            Disabled    Windows 2000/Server 2003 clustered
         9            Enabled     AIX (with Veritas DMP)
         10           Enabled     Windows 2K clustered DMP
         11           Disabled    Netware failover
         12           Enabled     Sun StorEdge
         13           Enabled     AIX Failover
         14           Enabled     Solaris (with Veritas DMP or other)
         15           Enabled     Windows 2K non clustered DMP
         16           Disabled    unlabeled
         17           Disabled    VMWARE
         18           Disabled    unlabeled
         19           Disabled    HPXTPGS
         20           Disabled    SOLTPGS
         21           Disabled    unlabeled
         22           Disabled    unlabeled
         23           Disabled    unlabeled
         24           Disabled    unlabeled
         25           Disabled    unlabeled
         26           Disabled    unlabeled
         27           Disabled    unlabeled
         28           Disabled    unlabeled
         29           Disabled    unlabeled
         30           Disabled    unlabeled
         31           Disabled    unlabeled

         :
         :
         : (snip)
         :
         :

         NVSRAM Region Id = (242) REGION_HOST_TYPE_DEPENDENT_DATA
          
           0000: 5375 6e5f 5345 3578 7878 0000 0000 0000    Sun_SE5xxx......
           0010: 0120 0000 0100 0001 0001 0100 0000 0000    . ..............
           0020: 0001 0001 01ff 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000    ................
           0030: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000    ................

         NVSRAM Region Id = (242) REGION_HOST_TYPE_DEPENDENT_DATA
          
           0000: 5732 4b4e 4554 4e43 4c00 0000 0000 0000    W2KNETNCL.......
           0010: 0020 0000 0100 0001 0000 0000 0000 0000    . ..............
           0020: 0001 0000 0000 0008 0000 0000 0000 0000    ................
           0030: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000    ................

         NVSRAM Region Id = (242) REGION_HOST_TYPE_DEPENDENT_DATA
          
           0000: 536f 6c61 7269 735f 4d50 7849 4f00 0000    Solaris_MPxIO...
           0010: 0120 0000 0100 0001 0100 0000 0000 0000    . ..............
           0020: 0001 0000 0000 0008 0000 0000 0000 0000    ................
           0030: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000    ................

         :
         :
         : (snip)
         :
         :

--------------------------------------------------------------
Previously Published As
83529

Change History

Date: 2008-11-21
User Name: T230884
Action: Quality Review



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