Compatible switches for EVA3000 VCS 4.004?

[Maggie Sanche]

1G SAN Switch 16EL is it supported on EVA3000 VCS 4.004?

EVA 4/6/8 with 5100 kind of retired the 1G switch... just want to double check.

Thanks!

[Stephen Kebbell]

Hi,

I just checked the latest SPOCK-stream. The old 1Gbit switches are still listed as supported for the EVA5K with VCS 4.xxx

Regards,
Stephen

[Luk Vandenbussche]

Hi Maggie,

I checked the matrix and confirmed the info form Stephen.

[Maggie Sanche]

yes they are on the streams, however they are also on the EVA8000 W2003 stream for vcs5100 and I believe that is Incorrect.

[Stephen Kebbell]

Hi,

the stream for the EVA 4/6/8k says "See SAN Design Guide regarding 5.1xx and 6.000 support of 1Gb/s SAN components."

And in the SAN Design Guide:
EVA4000/6000/8000 models with XCS 6x and 5.1x or later are supported with 4 Gb/s or 2 Gb/s connectivity only
Fibre Channel 1 Gb/s components or segments elsewhere in the fabric are allowed
EVA storage management server, Storage Management Appliance, and other supported server connections to the EVA controllers are allowed at 1 Gb/s when connected to a Fibre Channel switch, provided that the EVA port is connected at 4 Gb/s or 2 Gb/s.

I find no mention of such restrictions for the EVA 3000/5000.

Regards,
Stephen

[Tom O'Toole]

I thought this 1G restriction was only for the eva8000'A' controllers [A designating eva8000 with 4G host ports]. Also, they've done nothing to clear up the vagueness of the language. I placed a ticket with HP about this and was told the restriction is that 1G HBAs directly connected to 1G switches could not communicate with the 4G EVA8000 when in 4G mode (one could use an SC/LC cable to connect a 1G hba to a 2 or 4G switch in this config however). Can anyone from HP please clarify this?

We have tested 1G HBAs plugged into 1G switches using eva8000A storage (the eva host ports are plugged into a 4g switch on the same san) and it seems to work, even if unsupported. However, I've now heard a rumor that with XCS 5.100, the 4G mode of eva8000A is not enabled (although our controller running this version shows up as "4N" port speed on the switch), and that XCS 5.110, [which according to the doc, is only required for the loop switch that supports a 24 shelf config] is required to actually 'turn-on' 4G speed.

It would be really nice to know what the hell is going on!