Question about hosts

[LightSpeedHost]

I apologize for what will be a super simple question but after reading numerous docs now it's unclear to us as we embark on using 3PAR for the first time if hosts were meant to represent 1 host per PHYSICAL host connecting to the box, or if hosts actual virtual hosts running on the 3PAR that handle exposing the protocol of choice to other network devices?

The choice of the word "host" is unfortunate as it could be local to the device or it could be remote hosts (for instance VMware compute nodes, which typically are "hosts".

In the event that they're definitiions of external devices connecting to the array for data then what happens if there's an operating system not listed?  If in the case that hosts are actually virtual hosts running on the array to expose the data, then what's the advantage of choosing certain operating systems vs generic linux?

[Sheldon Smith]

I saw a site where the individual HBA ports were "hosts", with Server1a and Server1b both parts of the physical Server1. A little more commonly, I've seen a cluster as a 'host', where all the HBAs of all the hosts were enumerated. While it guaranteed a VLUN would be seen by the entire cluster, it was awkward when it came to changing an HBA and updating the 'host'.
Usually a host is a server, physical or virtual with one or more HBAs to which a virtual volume will be assigned as a VLUN. Depending on the host-facing ports on the 3PAR, those could be Port World Wide Names or iSCSI IQNs. But for most sysadmins' sanity, all the PWWNs or IQNs of a specific server.

On the topic of ESX (hypervisor) hosts, the physical host would be the host the 3PAR recognizes and to which a virtual volume is presented with a VMware persona. The ESX host then formats it as a datastore and shares it out to its VMs. The 3PAR does not know or care about the VMs and their VMDKs.

In the case where a VM has a virtual HBA, then yes, that VM would be setup as a host on the 3PAR. A virtual volume would be assigned directly to the VM with a whatever-the-VM-is persona is, and the VM would be in charge of formatting the volume.

Hope this helps clear things up, and welcome to HPE 3PAR Storage.

[LightSpeedHost]

Thank you Sheldon, we're a service provider looking to ditch ZFS arrays and migrate all data centers over to HPE Storage options, we've really liked what we've seen out of the 3PAR series.

I believe I understand the relationship now, can you confirm then that a valid theoretical config might be:

Hypervisor Host Servers in my rack
- hyper-host1
- hyper-host2
- hyper-host3

On 3PAR Array
- host1 (iSCSI is fine, no need for NFS persona)
- host2
- host3

Host Set then gets created called "hyper-cluster" and would contain the three separate 3PAR hosts?
In each 3PAR defined host (host1, 2, 3) the IP address is the address of the PHYSICAL host in my vmware cluster then, and NOT the IP address of the 3PAR host that it will assume on the network?

[Sheldon Smith · Accepted solution]

Host1, Host2 and Host3 in the host-set Hyper-Cluster would be optimal. I spent several years dealing primarily with FC and very little iSCSI. I've now moved to the HPE Nimble Storage dHCI side of things (which is iSCSI).

When looking at the configuration of the 3PAR hosts and 3PAR iSCSI adapters, read through the WIndows Implementation Guide. Sections on Configuring iSCSI and Configuring Hyper-V for starters.

If you need help, reach out to your local HPE Pointnext Consulting group.