DL380 scsi id

[Parag Chaudhari]

I am hoping this will work.I am planning to run a Linux Cluster on this configuration. I am trying to connect 2 DL380s to a common SCSI disk thru the external connectors. I cannot see any prompt for getting to the smart 5i controller to change its SCSI id. any hints ?

Thanks in advance
--Parag

[Symen]

When you connect two controllers onto one scsi bus, you'll have them both trying to write to the drive at the same time. These controllers won't know one another, neither will they work together. What they'll do is corrupt your data.
The SCSI ID is assigned by the SA controller, so you can not force this.
If you are really connected to the VHD connector on the backside of the server, you are not on the SA controller but on the SCSI controller.
Still then, you'll be corrupting your data because two instances try to write to the same device at the same time
What you need is a shared storage system. (msa 500, msa 1000)

[Parag Chaudhari]

Symen,

First of all thanks for your posting.
after all nobody else seems to be interested in my question ;-).

so here we go.
AFAI have read (and that is very little), this sort of config is valid . In sparc machines, we change the SCSI controller id and can happily connect disks common to 2 servers. Then, depending on the software, (eg. veritas volume manager) I can mount those disks on one of the servers or (clustering software) use them via failover mechnism on either of the servers.

So first step is to avoid SCSI controller id clash by changing on one of them and both the servers being able to see the shared disk.

Once this is done, then we can look at the next layer.

Now, I think I read in one of the forum postings that the smart array controller, when connected to msa, detects and configures it's id.


--Parag

[Parag Chaudhari]

I connected the shared disk across the 2 dl380 servers. One sees it the other shows it as failed. Unless both of them show up as ok and get reflected as logical drive to OS, I think I cannot proceed. Looks like the array controller is in a way becoming a hinderance in this case.

any further comments/ideas/insights are most welcome.

--Parag

[Marino Meloni_1]

hu Parag
your first message pointed to the solution. in a multi initiator environment and on a scsi chain (HBA are initiators and disk are target) you should have different scsi id. Usualy building a scsi cluster, we use to set a raid controller to id 7 (default) and one to id 6.
this is not enouth, we need to install on the system the cluster service, because both OS, one for each server will see the shared disk. and cluster service will take care to assign the ownership to one server at a time.
It is very important to follow the compatibility list fo Microsoft when you build the cluster, and also every step have to be done accordly with the procedure.
Returning to your question, I do not know how to change the scsi id of the 5i controller

marino