SAS Switch Port Mapping

[MarkLJones]

Hi

I have a c7000 containing 8 BL460C.

6 of these have corresponding SB40c storage blades attached (blades in adjacent bay) and a further 2 require external storage via p700 M2 card, 2x SAS 3gb switch and MSA2324 array enclosure.

The problem I have is when I install the switches into Rear slots 5 and 6, I get a device mismatch on the 6 servers, persumably due to the Storage Array conflicting with the storage blade.

Question is therefore, how can I diable the Port Mappings from 3Gb Switch to Servers located in slots 1,3,5,7,9,11 which allowing access to servers 13,14.

Thanks

Mark

[JonathanT]

Not sure yet. My MSA2324sa shows up on Tuesday. I've got two BL490C G6 w/ SB40C adjacent to them. Those plus 5 other blades all have P700 cards in them and will access the MSA. I'll let you know as I start working on the configuration if I run into anything.

[SoorajCleris]

Hi Mark,

Which slote you have the card inserted ?

Regards,
Sooraj

[MarkLJones]

I worked it out in the end. HP shipped my standard blades with a NIC N360m Mezz card in Slot 2 which meant that when I installed the SAS3gb Switch, the NICs all conflicted due to port mapping.

The solution was to move each of the Mezzanine cards to Slot 1 for the Blades NOT using the external MSA and to ensure the p700 array controller (also a mezz) was installed into slot 2 for the 2 blades that do need access.

The problem I have now is that my 2 servers with p700 installed cannot see any of the disks in the enclosure. When I press F8 on boot option for the p700 and try to create a new array partition I just get "No physical disks are installed"

I suspect either SAS Cabling or Zoning to be the problem. I only received 2 SAS Cables to connect from the SASswitch to the MSA and I suspect I may need more.

Currently I have them installed in Switch 1 (of 2) and running from Ports 1 and 2 to MSA ports A1 and A2.

I have then setup Zoning such that 1 of my servers has access to the first 2 ports on the switch but still no good.

Any thoughts appreciated!

Thanks

Mark

[Michael Leu]

Hi Mark

I just recently discovered that only the MSA600 and MSA2000sa arrays are supported with the SAS BL switch.

Quickspecs of the SAS BL switch: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13170_div/13170_div.html

See also this thread:
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1375305

Would be really annoying if this was enforced somehow. (I don't understand why they only support two storage devices...)

[MarkLJones]

Hi Michael,

I think my mode MSA2324sa is covered under the MSA2000 family of Array enclosures. The specs link you sent does specify it under MSA2000sa. See the last line below...

"MSA2000sa The 3Gb SAS BL Switch can also be used to access to shared SAS storage provided by the MSA2000sa. A P700m Smart Array controller installed in each server acts as a pass through, with RAID functionality for shared SAS storage provided by the MSA2000sa array.

HP StorageWorks 2312sa G2 Dual Controller Modular Smart Array (LFF) AJ805A

HP StorageWorks 2324sa G2 Dual Controller Modular Smart Array (SFF) AJ807A"


You had me worried for a moment though!

Regards,

Mark

[Slawomir Malinowski]

Hi Mark,
I have a similar situation. BL460C with p700m on board connected through the 2xSAS3G switch to MSA2324. In my case p700 doesn't detect any hard drive, however BIOS and Windows recognize the logical drive. Moreover I can do all operation (read/write/modify) on this partition. All my firmwares/drivers are up to date. I thought it might be a hardware issue with p700, but controller replacement didn't help at all. So I will join to your question - what is wrong?

Cheers,
Slawek