EVA replication log location and XCS6.2 questions

[mark_uksouth]

Hi all,

Reading through the HP Storageworks CA EVA implementation guide (Third Edition Sept 2008) I have found the following information, that seems to contradict itself.
At the moment we are running XCS6.110 and if left the default disk group is selected as the FATA, but according to the IMPORTANT note it should be on FCAL?
Then the table below it specifies FATA to be used with XCS6.2 and below?

This is on pages 50 and 51 of the guide.

Now before i get to far down the line i'd like to know which disk group i should assign to the logs?

We are also looking at upgrading the XCS6.110 to 6.200 as it adds creation of DR groups in async mode.
Our current setup is 1 EVA8000 primary site and 1 EVA8100 DR site, now i was thinking of upgrading the DR site first for a couple of weeks before upgarding the primary site.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can run different XCS versions for a month supported? is this correct and will this be OK?

Also as this is a none downgradable update is there any horror stories on 6.200?

Thanks

Mark

[Víctor Cespón · Accepted solution]

XCS 6.000 and above uses enhanced asynchronous mode, which writes a copy of all the changes to the DR Group log. This constant write is bad for FATA disks.
So if you use enhanced asynchronous replication, the log should be in a disk group made of FC disks.

XCS 6.200 cannot be downgraded, you'll need to reinitialize the array.

See http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/downloads/5982-7353EN.pdf

[gabbar]

i have not gone through that guide but you need to have dr log location in FC DG if enhanced async mode is used.

for the other question, you need to check the page no. 10 on following matrix

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01631841/c01631841.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

[Mark...]

Hi,

"I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can run different XCS versions for a month supported? is this correct and will this be OK?"

Latest info / what I remember is if upgrading f/w in a CA environment then the minimum time between upgrading the src / dst eva's is 2 minutes and the max is 168hrs (7 days)- so not a month.

Mark...

[Uwe Zessin]

HP StorageWorks 4x00/6x00/8x00 Enterprise Virtual Array updating product software guide (XCS 6.200)

Part number: 5697-7368, June 2008

""You must perform the necessary upgrades to the storage systems in the HP Continuous Access EVA relationship within sixty days (1440 hours) to make all controller software versions the same.""

Same text in the:
HP StorageWorks 4400 Enterprise Virtual Array updating product software guide (XCS 09006000)

Part number: 5697-7957, January 2009

[mark_uksouth]

Thanks for the replies,

Yeah i thought i had read somewhere that you could run it for a certain period of time with different versions.

Is there any caveats to doing this?

Also as this is a one time upgrade (apart from doing an initialise and restore) are there any know issues?

Thanks for your input.

Mark

[Uwe Zessin]

Over all the years and except for one or two cases I've had no problems with EVA upgrades (CA or no CA).

Make sure you are running CV-EVA V8.0.2 _before_ you do the upgrade (8.0.1 is minimum for XCS V6.200 if I recall). If you are on CV-EVA V6.x - prepare for the license upgrades, get all licenses, do the fulfullment and CV-EVA upgrade **before** you touch your EVA hardware.

I've seen cases where the license delivery was delayed, the transfer to the portal was delayed and in some cases there was no 'instant-on'/'demo' license available after the installation of CV-EVA V8.

So, really do yourself a favour and do not upgrade XCS until CV-EVA is current and fully licensed.

[mark_uksouth]

Thanks chaps for the input.

We are running CV8.02 already so it should go OK

Mark

[McCready]

your biggest issue with running non-matching XCS versions is that until they are the same version, you can make NO changes to your DR groups. No adds or removals of disks nor new DR groups - at least if you want to be supported.

That restriction effectively kills the extension of the window from 7 days to 60 days for us. See the latest "HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array compatibility reference" for what works.