WIndows 2019 Connecting to Nimble CS300 SAN

[Cyfar]

Hi,

I have a Dell PowerEdge R740xd2 server with two Emulex LPe31002-M6-D cards, running Windows 2019. The server is connected to a Nimble CS300 SAN via two Dell Brocade DS-6505B fibre switches. I've set-up a LUN for the server, which is shown in the HBA utility on the server, but not in Windows Disk Manager. If I do a rescan in Disk Manager, then a disk sometimes appears, but the size doesn't match the LUN, and after a short time, it disappears. I've tried upgrading the HBA firmware/driver to the latest (which didn't help) and downgrading it to a version from 2018, which is on the compatibility matrix (also didn't help). On the SAN, I can ping the WWNs of the server, and they show as connected to the LUN, although from time to time, we get an alert from the SAN to say that fibre channel connectivity is asymmetric, listing the WWNs of the server's HBA cards. A recovered alert is received a minute or two later.

The SAN firmware is 5.0.8.0-677726. There are several ESXi servers also connected, which are not having any problems connecting to storage. The LUN has only been zoned for the Windows 2019 server, and none of the ESXi LUNs are zoned for the Windows server.

I suspect that there may be an incompatbility between Windows 2019 and the SAN, given that the HBA utility on the server can see the LUN OK. It may be resolved by upgrading the SAN firmware, or downgrading to Windows 2016, but I was wondering if anyone had had a similar issue?

Many thanks

[Candhade · Accepted solution]

The HBA driver and firmware version suggested in VCM (Validated Configuration Matrix)

Windows Server 2019      Emulex LPe31000 Series

Driver Version supported: 11.4.225.8009

Firmware Version supported: 11.4.334.10              

Nimble OS version supported: 5.0.x, 5.1.x

Brocade FOS version recommended

Brocade 65xx, HPE SN6000B Series, HPE SN6500B Series  

FOS version supported: 7.1.x, 7.2.x, 7.3.x, 7.4.x, 8.0.x, 8.1.x, 8.2.x

Nimble OS version Supported: 2.2.x, 2.3.x, 3.x. 4.x, 5.0.x, 5.1.x

It is also recommended to install Nimble Windows Toolkit (NWT) and use Nimble Connection Manager (NCM) to connect t0 the volume and check if the same problem persists.

You mentioned that the LUN size does not match. Does the serial number of the LUN Matches?

Check the serial number of the LUN on the Array

1. Make a CLI session to the Nimble Array
2. Run the command vol --info <Volume Name> and note down the serial number

Check the serial number of the LUN on the Host when the LUN is detected

1. If NWT is installed on the windows Host, Click on Start and search for Nimble PowerShell cmdlets and run it as Administrator
2. Run the command Get-NimVolume

Check if the serial number of the LUN matches.

[Cyfar]

Thanks, those powershell commands helped resolve the issue. The problem was that Veeam has been installed, which must be controlling the behaviour of Windows Disk Manager. When I ran get-nimvolume, it listed the LUN. I run a backup with Veeam set to use fibre channel and I saw traffic on the fibre port, so now I know that it's definitely working.

Thanks.