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Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

 
Abstraction
Occasional Advisor

3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

I posted on this in the proliant forum, but it looks to be gone now?  So I'll ask here.

I have some 3PAR 7200s and some DL360Ps that were ordered with the intention of direct connecting the Servers HBAs directly into the 3PARs in a flat san setup.  We've done this with c7000 blade chassis, and I can find documentation on that setup, but I can't find any documentation on doing this with rack mount HP servers.

Does anyone know if you can directly connect rackmount servers such as DL360Ps to 3PAR 7000 series?  Or was this some over zealous sales engineer selling us on a config that wont work.

Caveat, this stuff was ordered 2.5 years ago long before I worked here.  I'm told what my predecessors was sold on was four DL360Ps directly connecting to a StoreServe 7200 to make up a small ESXi cluster.

7 REPLIES 7
zohar10
Senior Member

Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

Hi

you can connect 3PAR 7200 direct to servers you need a 2 port HBA in the server 

and each server should see both controllers.

this means that if you don't have additional fibre card in the 3PAR you can connect

only 2 servers. if you have a 4 port card added to each controller you can connect

6 servers. also you need to change the port connection type from point to loop.

connect the same port from each controller to each server.

you should see reference to this in the SAN Design Reference Guide

in the chapter about 3PAR storeserv Storage.

Regards

give a KUDO if this helps

Abstraction
Occasional Advisor

Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

Thank you for the reply.  I do have 2 HBAs in each server and I think a 4 port card on each controller (haven't dug into the boxes yet).  So it SHOULD work for the 4 servers that I have per 3par.

I've tried looking through that document for an official "yes you can do this, here's how" but the document's size is...counter productive.  I've found HP's documentation in general very lacking in user/reader friendlyness.  Actually I find everything that HP produces lacking, but this is what I have.

Thanks for the reply.  I will continue to mine the tombs of HP documenation for more informatoin on procedures and translate them into something like an actioable how-to.  Maybe I'll write a blog or something heh.

yapkl
Trusted Contributor

Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

The info you need is in HPE SPOCK (google for the URL) - look for the support matrix and look for the direct connect column that would indicate Y or NO and also the various implementation guides.

As an example, for 3PAR 8400 FC with VMware Vsphere 6.0 you will see that FC HBA AJ764A (Qlogic dual port 8GB) supports direct connect.

Just make sure your 3PAR OS is up to date, for FC DC you will need at least 3.2.1, preferably 3.2.2 MU4 which is the current release.

Best Regards,

yapkl

Note: The opinions & comments above are my personal opinions, not of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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If my post was useful, click on my KUDOS! thumb below! Thanks.
Abstraction
Occasional Advisor

Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

Thank you for the reply. I found direction to check the spock site after reading the 5th PDF entitled "HP san Design Reference Guide" (which were all completely different). On spock I found that direct connect is dependent on the HBA and driver (and OS of course). I'll have to rack, stack, and cross my fingers that the right HBAs were ordered since I have no idea what they are beyond Emulex written on the cards and "HP storeageworks" written on the invoice for the HBA line item.

Thanks for the assistance all. If anything this is good blog fuel.

yapkl
Trusted Contributor

Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

 Ah yes, the SAN Design Reference Guide is a great Reference Guide (what did I do there??). The complete version is here:

http://h20565.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c00403562&lang=en-us&cc=us

You might have found sections of the guide, I know it also exist in sections because some people prefer sections I guess.

Live long and Prosper.Live long and Prosper.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Regards,

yapkl

Note: The opinions & comments above are my personal opinions, not of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
----------
If my post was useful, click on my KUDOS! thumb below! Thanks.
Abstraction
Occasional Advisor

Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

Thanks for the full document at the current edition. I did find one earlier version of the full document, but couldn't find this updated version. I figured the other docs were sections, but with no master navigation or index revealed in searching it was hard to find what I was looking for. Mr. Spock would find the arrangement of HPE's documentation illogical. That's why I like VMware's publications. They are in web form so you can link to individual sections, but there is always the navigation pane to the left to know where you are within the document and are able to jump to other sections as needed. I guess IтАЩm just a Dell/EMC fanboi out of his element.

I'll save this off so I can reference it later since I'd never be able to find it again lol.

yiyingtan
Visitor

Re: 3PAR direct connect (flat san) to DL360P

3PAR StoreServ storage systems are supported in configurations with a combination of fabric attached and direct connect servers (direct connect uses no Fibre Channel switch).
This is subject to the system maximum for host connections.
тАв MAC OS and OpenVMS do not support Direct Connect.
тАв Direct Connect to BladeSystem Servers is not supported.
тАв HP-UX, Linux, and Microsoft Windows are supported for direct connect.
тАв The 3PAR StoreServ 16Gb FC target adapter supports direct connection to host beginning with HP 3PAR OS 3.2.2.MU2. Not all Operating Systems and HBAs support a Direct Connect configuration.
To determine if your OS and HBA combination supports Direct Connect to a 3PAR StoreServ storage system, see the SPOCK 3PAR Connectivity configuration sets on the SPOCK website at http://www.hpe.com/storage/ spock.
You must sign up for an HP Passport to enable access.
After logging in into the SPOCK website:
1. On the left navigation panel, click View by Array link under SAN Compatibility. The Select Disk Array window opens.
2. Click Add to Selection next to 3PAR. A list of 3PAR storage systems will be displayed.
3. Select 3PAR Connectivity in the Filter Results by Configset Types: dropdown menu at the top of the list.
4. Select your 3PAR StoreServ storage system and server operating system combination from the list. A new window opens.
5. Expand the HBA list by clicking the + sign.
6. Now expand the specific HBA in the list. The various driver versions will be displayed along with the driver version that supports Direct Connect. You can scroll the screen to the right to view all the columns in the table.