2012FC SAN question

[Michael McKenney]

I have a 2012FC SAN. It is connected in a loop to two MDS 9124 switches. switch A and B

SAN to switch
A7 and B7
B8 and A8

Servers are
A and B 5
A and B 6

Each server has two FC2142SR controllers
BIOS enabled on both

Loop configuration set on controllers

SAN has 6 volumes all are all host rw.

I can't get the FC2142SR to stay active on bootup. The BIOS does not load.

Any suggestions or questions?

[Uwe Zessin]

Michael,
you should better use Fabric protocol, not FC_AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop). In some setups the term FDA (Fabric Direct Attach) or point-to-point(-topology) is used.

[Michael McKenney]

This is my first SAN configuration. Can you explain why to use Fabric protocol or FC_AL? Would this be on both the SAN and both MDS-9124 switches?

[Uwe Zessin · Accepted solution]

FC_AL works a bit like a token ring (heavily simplified). Depending on the profile (public vs. private), you might need additional switch configuration to make it work - or you even need different switches.

Fabric protocol avoids this and is compatible with the MSA2012fc, the FC2142SR Fibr Channel adapter and the MDS switches.

Did you install the HP-branded package for the FC2142SR? It installs the device driver and it makes sure that all registry settings are correct.

You can get it here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DriverDownload.jsp?prodNameId=1143949〈=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=12169&prodSeriesId=1809835&taskId=135

And you might want to pick up the "Emulex HBAnyware Fibre Channel Remote Management application", too. It allows adapter management when the operating system is running.

> I can't get the FC2142SR to stay active on bootup.
> The BIOS does not load.

Are you trying Boot from SAN? The BIOS is resident on the card, but is not needed when you boot from local storage.

[Michael McKenney]

I went back and reread the manual. You have been a huge help. I will post back with the results on Monday.

[Michael McKenney]

The servers will be diskless. I want to boot from the FC2142SR to the SAN volume 64OS LUN 0.

I switched the SAN to point to point. I can't see the either FC2142SR on the SAN manage host list. I configured one of two for boot up in BIOS. When I boot Smart Start 8.0, I get 0 MB on the FC2142SR I am trying to load from.

I can't find any documentation to explain how the FC2142SR controller attaches to the 64OS volume @ LUN 0.

[Uwe Zessin]

I don't have an MSA2000fc near me right now, but if I remember correctly, it presents a controller device at LUN address 0 from which you cannot boot. These devices do not provide any capacity as they are meant for LUN lookup and in-band management. Try LUN address 1, for example.

[Michael McKenney]

I appreciate all your help. Thank you.

Should I see the servers on the volume mapping page of the 2012FC?

I just recreated on volume 64OS, 40960MB, LUN 1 as a test.

[Uwe Zessin]

You should see entries in:
Select Manage > Volume Management > Volume Mapping > Manage Host List

According to the documentation, you should assign a 'nickname' so that the host does not get 'forgotten'.

And then you can grant the host access to the volume:
Select Manage > Volume Management > Volume Mapping > Map Hosts To Volume

[Michael McKenney]

Since switching to point to point from loop on SAN, the two MDS 9124 have orange lights on each port. I tried turning off both SAN and switches to reset them. The 2012FC has

switch port and port #
A7 is switch A port 7

A7 and B7 on controller A
B8 and A8 on controller B

This is a loop configuration. Can I still use point to point with this configuration?