P2000 G3 4 ports link speed

[EildonHA]

In the process of deciding whether to go for iSCSI storage connectivity or stick with FC.

Been looking at the P2000 G3 and the 1Gb iSCSI model, which has 4 ports per controller.

Would be looking to do link aggregation from switch to each device in SAN (3xESX Hosts, each MSA controller etc)

Question. If I set up link aggregation on the switch on 4 of its ports and connect those ports to the 4 ports on 1 of the controllers, will the MSA do aggregation over those links and give me the cumulative 4Gb??

[Torsten.]

If you compare, compare the 10GbE iSCSI and 8Gb FC ports too, the MSA2040/1040 even has 16Gb FC ports!.

[EildonHA]

Torsten - thanks for reply. Yes, I have been looking at the FC model and both the 1Gb and 10GbE iSCSI models, although acquiring compatible switching for the 10GBe iSCSI is going to price us out of that option.

We currently have a 4Gb FC backbone but the equipment is over 5 years old and looking to replace.

Really just trying to get an idea whether going to a 1Gb ethernet solution, with aggregated links to hosts/storage would result in lesser performance than the dedicated 4Gb we are used to.

[EildonHA]

I am reading that iSCSI/SAN solutions do not support LACP so no need for anyone to answer that question!

Thanks anyway!

[Torsten.]

Don't mix up with server protocols - the array supports multipathing, so it combines the bandwith of the ports too.

[EildonHA]

Can I ask (what might be a dumb) question please.

With respect to MPIO, does the MSA do this automatically or does it need to be enabled? I know that you need to configure it on your hosts.

Also, I'm assuming multipathing is available on FC MSA too?

[lpeters · Accepted solution]

Hi @EildonHA 

Thanks for your post. Great comments from everyone. I've collected a few links which may be helpful to you and others coming across this thread:

Details for the P2000 G3 can be found here and the user guide can be downloaded as well. Good info also available at the HP P2000 G3 MSA Array Systems support center.

There are additional online guides that could help answer your more detailed questions:

This link discusses how to connect hosts on the HP MSA 2040 SAN.

Multipathing works on both iSCSI and FC. Here is the MPIO installation guide for the MSA. Check out page five for the lowdown on MPIO.

I hope this information helps! If needed, I'd be happy to connect you with an HP solutions expert who can walk through your specific needs in more detail and help with spec'ing out the best configuration.