CommandView EVA lost communication with the Storage System

[Denz]

Hi All,

I'm encountering this problem on our EVA 4400.

*************************************
Brief Description:
Failure diagnosis needed: xxx: CommandView EVA lost communication with the Storage System

Rule ID:
Storage_Lx_CV -- V 1.00 Event Code: 8099

Rule Severity:
Critical

Reporting Node:
xxxx

Full Description:
CommandView EVA is unable to communicate with the indicated Storage System.

This can be caused by:
- CommandView losing Fibre Channel connectivity to the Storage
System.
- The Storage System is down.
- CommandView is unable to maintain communication with
the Storage System due to an unknown condition.

The Storage System identification information is reported in the Field Replaceable List (FRU) List.

Corrective Action:
Browse to CommandView EVA and verify the status of the
Storage System. The icon may be displayed as Unknown.
Select the Storage System icon. If CommandView displays
normal Storage System status, the communication has been
restored.

Further analysis of event data, configuration information and
visual indicators may be required.

The Evidence section of this report identifies the
Storage System and time of the event. Multiple Storage
Systems reporting this event at or near the same time
may be an indication of a common path fabric failure.
*******************************************

Below are the firmware/CV version(s) we have:

XCS version: 09006000
Management Module firmware: 1.00.00.080916
CommandView version: 8.00.02.080909

This is the second time we hit this issue. First, HP had updated our firmware and restarted the controllers. That seemed to fix the issue but after 5 months, it has resurfaced again. Is there anyone who's experiencing the same behavior from their EVA 4400 and the management server (Windows 2k3 storage server r2 x64). At this point, I'm not sure where the problem is. Does it concern the EVA storage system or some hiccups on the management server?

P.S. This thread has been moevd from General to Storage Area Networks (SAN) (Enterprise). - Hp forum Moderator

[Uwe Zessin]

It's most likely _another_ software problem. Open a call with HP - I bet they will make _another_ firmware upgrade. This will be an offline-upgrade, so be prepared for some downtime.

[Víctor Cespón]

I supposse you have checked the obvious first:

- Does this server really have FC connection to the switch?
- It it zoned so it can see the EVA4400?
- Do the servers keep seeing the disks on the EVA?
- Did you try to restart Command View service?
- If you run cvutil paths, do you see 4 paths to the EVA?

And yes, now that it's been released, any EVA4400 should be upgraded to XCS 09521000 and Command View 9.1 ASAP. HP will send someone to do it if you ask for it.

[Denz]

Hi Guys,

I appreciate your responses regarding the matter. I have opened a ticket with HP since last thursday and its been going back and forth without any progress. I'll call them in a bit to get this thing going. My patience has run out and all the engineer could advise at this point is to restart the controllers. Anyways to clear up the questions:

- Does this server really have FC connection to the switch?

Yes. It was working well previously. Unfortunately, I don't have a LUN/vdisk presented to the management server to double confirm the connectivity.

- It it zoned so it can see the EVA4400?
Yes


- Do the servers keep seeing the disks on the EVA.

Other servers are working just fine. They still see and have access to the vdisks presented to them.

- Did you try to restart Command View service?

Yes. Restarted and shutdown the management server didn't help as well.

- If you run cvutil paths, do you see 4 paths to the EVA?

Here's the thing, "cvutil paths" was actually displaying some outputs until HP advised to delete the cache (\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\Sanworks\Element Manager for StorageWorks HSV\cache). After
that, subsequent use of "cvutil paths" doesn't return anything as if connection is completely cut off. This is why I want to install a CV on a different machine to just check but the HP engineer is clinging more on a controller restart.

Has XCS 09521000 been officially released? Or is it a controlled release?

Thanks.

[Uwe Zessin]

> Has XCS 09521000 been officially released?

Yes, but only for a few days, so the your call and the release might have overlaped.

> its been going back and forth without any progress.

As it is available now, the call center agent should now be able to come over with a little more than simple restarts. If not, escalate. Ask for the "manager on duty".

But I am afraid at least one more restart is required to be able to perform the upgrade.

[Denz]

I was reviewing our past case and it seems that we upgraded to 09006000 sometime February and this is even before it was official in the HP site http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual〈=en&cc=us&docIndexId=64179&taskId=101&prodTypeId=12169&prodSeriesId=3664763 (Mar 2009 for 0900600). So, looks like we're heading to a similar path and upgrading to a new firmware. Another thing though, I heard CV 9.1 can now be installed on the management module directly. If I choose this, can I still install the server-based CV? And will WEBES work with the CV on the management module?

[Uwe Zessin]

I've installed an EVA-4400 with 'official' 09006000 in january.

Don't trust the so-called "posted date". First, it is not the software release date and second, the column is mis-named. The date can change when another entry starts pointing to the document.

CV 8.1 was the first version installable on the WOCP. You can run CV on the WOCP together with CV on a management server and switch management ownership forth and back the same way as if you had two or more management servers.

I am not sure if WEBES now works with the WOCP - for complete 4400-support (including the ability to upgrade disk drive firmware) you still need a Windows-based management server. In that case I'd run WEBES&Co. completely on Windows and keep the WOCP as some kind of emergency access.

Whatever a sales-person says:
ABM is no full replacement for SBM - period.

[IvanForceville]

We've upgraded to the latest version a few months ago... unfortunately still facing the same issues

Our setup:

2x EVA4400 (09522000) in a CA setup with CV9.1

HP promised to resolve this problem in the latest version but we're still rebooting controllers to get our GUI back. That's the only how the problem get's resolved.