topic Re: 2012FC SAN question in MSA Storage

2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:01:37 GMT

I have a 2012FC SAN. It is connected in a loop to two MDS 9124 switches. switch A and B

SAN to switch
A7 and B7
B8 and A8

Servers are
A and B 5
A and B 6

Each server has two FC2142SR controllers
BIOS enabled on both

Loop configuration set on controllers

SAN has 6 volumes all are all host rw.

I can't get the FC2142SR to stay active on bootup. The BIOS does not load.

Any suggestions or questions?

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Uwe Zessin — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:26:32 GMT

Michael,
you should better use Fabric protocol, not FC_AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop). In some setups the term FDA (Fabric Direct Attach) or point-to-point(-topology) is used.

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:31:50 GMT

This is my first SAN configuration. Can you explain why to use Fabric protocol or FC_AL? Would this be on both the SAN and both MDS-9124 switches?

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Uwe Zessin — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:45:59 GMT

FC_AL works a bit like a token ring (heavily simplified). Depending on the profile (public vs. private), you might need additional switch configuration to make it work - or you even need different switches.

Fabric protocol avoids this and is compatible with the MSA2012fc, the FC2142SR Fibr Channel adapter and the MDS switches.

Did you install the HP-branded package for the FC2142SR? It installs the device driver and it makes sure that all registry settings are correct.

You can get it here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DriverDownload.jsp?prodNameId=1143949〈=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=12169&prodSeriesId=1809835&taskId=135

And you might want to pick up the "Emulex HBAnyware Fibre Channel Remote Management application", too. It allows adapter management when the operating system is running.

> I can't get the FC2142SR to stay active on bootup.
> The BIOS does not load.

Are you trying Boot from SAN? The BIOS is resident on the card, but is not needed when you boot from local storage.

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:50:28 GMT

I went back and reread the manual. You have been a huge help. I will post back with the results on Monday.

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:08:21 GMT

The servers will be diskless. I want to boot from the FC2142SR to the SAN volume 64OS LUN 0.

I switched the SAN to point to point. I can't see the either FC2142SR on the SAN manage host list. I configured one of two for boot up in BIOS. When I boot Smart Start 8.0, I get 0 MB on the FC2142SR I am trying to load from.

I can't find any documentation to explain how the FC2142SR controller attaches to the 64OS volume @ LUN 0.

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Uwe Zessin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:15:34 GMT

I don't have an MSA2000fc near me right now, but if I remember correctly, it presents a controller device at LUN address 0 from which you cannot boot. These devices do not provide any capacity as they are meant for LUN lookup and in-band management. Try LUN address 1, for example.

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:44:17 GMT

I appreciate all your help. Thank you.

Should I see the servers on the volume mapping page of the 2012FC?

I just recreated on volume 64OS, 40960MB, LUN 1 as a test.

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Uwe Zessin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:53:32 GMT

You should see entries in:
Select Manage > Volume Management > Volume Mapping > Manage Host List

According to the documentation, you should assign a 'nickname' so that the host does not get 'forgotten'.

And then you can grant the host access to the volume:
Select Manage > Volume Management > Volume Mapping > Map Hosts To Volume

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:09:57 GMT

Since switching to point to point from loop on SAN, the two MDS 9124 have orange lights on each port. I tried turning off both SAN and switches to reset them. The 2012FC has

switch port and port #
A7 is switch A port 7

A7 and B7 on controller A
B8 and A8 on controller B

This is a loop configuration. Can I still use point to point with this configuration?

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:36:22 GMT

I am trying to use the fault tolerant two MDS 9124 switches and a san configuraton with DL380G5 servers using two FC2142SR controllers.

Switch A port 7 to SAN controller A FC port 0
Switch A port 8 to SAN controller B FC port 1

Switch B port 7 to SAN controller A FC port 1
Switch B port 8 to SAN controller B FC port 0

interconnect is straight through

I was told to use point to point. I went back into the swithes and did a no shut on each port.

64OS is LUN 1 40GB in aise

When I go into the Emulex card option 1

1 unused DID: 000000 WWPN 00000000 00000000 LUN:00 primary boot
2 unused DID: 000000 WWPN 00000000 00000000 LUN:00
etc.

Re: 2012FC SAN question

Michael McKenney — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:51:13 GMT

I created VSAN 5 on the MDS 9124. It includes the SAN and first DL380G5 server. Now I can see the server on the SAN and assign its WWN mapping to volumes.

The FC2142SR still can't see the LUN 1 properly in its setup. I upgraded to firmware 8.2 and will put on BIOS upgrade rev tomorrow.