topic Re: EMC Powerpath and EVA4000 in HPE MSA Storage

EMC Powerpath and EVA4000

CA1200409 — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:03:02 GMT

I am attempting to add a LUN from an EVA 4000 to a Win 2003 server that already is using a LUN from a CX300 via Powerpath.

I'm having no luck, although the 4 paths to the LUN appear in disk manager.

I have installed Powerpath (v4.5) to support HP arrays, but I'm wondering if the 4000 is not supported.

Re: EMC Powerpath and EVA4000

Uwe Zessin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:30:07 GMT

A multipath solution like Powerpath(EMC) or Secure Path (HP) usually only works with the storage vendor's own arrays.

For the EVA4000, you need HP's MPIO DSM for the EVA4000/6000/8000. If this is a critical system, I would also try to find out in advance if Powerpath and MPIO can co-exist on one server.

If you intend a data migration, I would:
- connect the EVA single-path
- do the migration
- remove the CX connectivity
- and Powerpath
- install the EVA 4/6/8000 MPIO DSM
- connect the EVA multi-path

Re: EMC Powerpath and EVA4000

Stephen Kebbell — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 03:59:38 GMT

Hi,

looking through the documentation for PowerPath 4.5.0, it seems to support MA (HSG80) and EVA3000/5000. I guess it only supports the active/passive EVAs. The EVA4000 is active/active, so you probably won't be able to get it working with PowerPath. I think PP and MPIO can work together. Just make sure you have up-to-date versions of both. We had problems with PP 4.5 and older version of Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager on the same Windows box (Bluescreen when a path was restored)

Regards,
Stephen

Re: EMC Powerpath and EVA4000

CA1200409 — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 08:23:50 GMT

Uwe, I understand how to migrate, but that's not what I was trying to do at this point (maybe someday). I need to interoperate for today if possible.

Stephen, I had discovered the same info you did, but was hoping it might be a workable solution with Powerpath, and EMC/Dell are not helpful when it comes to third-party support.

I was not willing to tempt fate by installing MPIO with Powerpath, but I'll investigate that option.

Thanks all.