Getting LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliance to work in a BladeSystem

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With the recent acquisition of Lefthand Networks by HP there has been a lot of activity to get this low-cost iSCSI storage solution to work in a BladeSystem/Flex-10 environment. So, Lenore took up the challenge to get the definitive process from our engineers. From Lenore: "There has been a lot of confusion about how to connect LeftHand nodes to Flex-10 VC. This is probably because the answer involves the words ‘it depends’. The info below outlines 1Gb and 10Gb configurations, as well as info on using the LeftHand P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance to create shared storage inside the BladeSystem enclosure. Section 1 Directly connecting 1Gb Virtual Connect or Flex-10 Virtual Connect to a LeftHand P4000 node • for 1Gb implementations • this works for only one LeftHand node, not clusters Blade server configuration • iSCSI initiator options o Install OS-specific SW iSCSI initiator o Today, iSCSI acceleration and boot is transparent to both 1Gb VC and Flex-10 VC. There are two options if customers want to use iSCSI boot and/or iSCSI acceleration: - Use QMH4062 iSCSI HBA. - Use the Broadcom 5706/5708/5709 1 Gb NICs and configure them for iSCSI boot/acceleration using tools provided in NCDE releases. All of this is transparent to VC. Virtual Connect configuration • If you are connecting Flex-10 VC to a 1Gb LeftHand target, then you must use a 1Gb SFP module. o The Flex-10 VC Ethernet module has 8 empty SFP+ cages. You can install either 10Gb SFP+ modules or 1Gb SFP modules. To connect to a 1Gb RJ45 on a LeftHand target, use the 1Gb RJ45 SFP module for CAT5e cable to direct-attach. • Also, if you are using a Flex-10 VC module and 16 servers populated with 10Gb iSCSI NICs, you will be oversubscribed (160Gb of traffic bottlenecked into a 1Gb connection between VC and LeftHand). o If this is the case, use Flex-10 to set your FlexNICs to a lower bandwidth so the link will not be overwhelmed. Ignore this recommendation if you intend to use the QLogic card, as it is fixed at 1Gb. Section 2 Connecting 1Gb Virtual Connect or Flex-10 Virtual Connect to a LeftHand P4000 node using a ProCurve switch • for 1 GB or 10Gb implementations • these configurations will support LeftHand clusters Note: Most LeftHand nodes are 1Gb, however a 10Gb upgrade module is available for the LeftHand P4500 and P4300 Same blade server configuration as described above, with the following ProCurve configuration: • The Flex-10 VC Ethernet module has 8 empty SFP+ cages. You can install either 10Gb SFP+ modules or 1Gb SFP modules • If using 1Gb ports (RJ45) on LeftHand, there are several configuration options: o ProCurve 6600 connects to either 1Gb or 10Gb Flex-10 VC ports o ProCurve 2810 connects to 1GB VC ports • If using 10Gb ports (CX4) on LeftHand, there are several configuration options: o ProCurve 3500 with a four port CX4 upgrade module connects up to three LeftHand nodes to 10Gb VC ports o ProCurve 6400 connects to either 10Gb VC ports Section 3 Using LeftHand P4000 VSA in a blade environment Also note that LeftHand P4000 VSA can be used to create shared storage inside the blade enclosure with the SB40c. There is a specially priced bundle of the SB40c + LeftHand P4000 VSA (part # AT459A), as well as a deployment guide: http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01729139/c01729139.pdf The deployment guide references 3 configurations: 1) SB40c + LeftHand P4000 VSA (just one VSA license installed in a VM on the ESX host that is adjacent to the SB40c) 2) Using LeftHand P4000 VSA to turn excess capacity of local server drives into shared storage (requires a P4000 VSA license on every ESX host that has excess drive capacity) 3) Using LeftHand P4000 VSA to turn up to 10TB of capacity on the MDS600 into shared storage From the SB40c QuickSpecs: HP StorageWorks SB40c Storage Blade and HP LeftHand VSA bundle P/N AT459A NOTE: Includes the SB40c Storage Blade and a single LeftHand P4000 VSA license. LeftHand VSA software is installed in a virtual machine on a VMware ESX host server adjacent to the SB40c. NOTE: Includes 1 yr 9x5 software support for LeftHand P4000 VSA software. NOTE: LeftHand P4000 VSA is supported on VMware ESX 3.0.2, 3.5 and ESX i version 3.5