2 servers accessing MSA30 storage

[Lacrosse]

Can I hook 2 rp3440's to a MSA30 array with built in 4 port switch without needing secure manager. I am ok up to 2 servers then I will need secure manager to assign the disk securely. Also if I want to load balance accross the paths to the MSA30 will I need Securepath

[Duncan Edmonstone]

ARe you sure you mean a MSA30? The MSA30 is just SCSI JBOD and doesn't support either secure manager or SecurePath

Are you referring to the MSA1000?

HTH

Duncan

[Lacrosse]

I guess I was misinformed I was under the impression you could run secure manager with the MSA30. So is it a 4 port connection point on the MSA30 and I guess you can't load balance accross the channels then correct?

[Glenn N Wuenstel]

The MSA30 is a jbod with either a single bus or dual bus configuration. In the single bus, all fourteen drives are accessed through the single port. In a dual bus configuration, the first seven drives are available through port 1 and then second seven through port 2.
The MSA500 is the only MSA platform with a four port SCSI module (the MSA1500 has four I/O ports that can each contain a dual port module). If you have an MSA500 then it has a controller and can be configured as you suggest -- although I haven't checked to see if it supports HP-UX...

Glenn

[Andrew Merritt_2]

There is also the MSA30MI, a Multi-initiator version of the MSA30.

The 4-port Multi-Initiator I/O module enables data transfer through four SCSI ports, supports up to 14 drives, and has two ports per bus. Up to seven devices can be connected to each bus. Each bus requires its own host controller.

This is only supported on HP-UX (and Linux IA-64 systems).

Andrew

[Bernhard Mueller · Accepted solution]

Hi,

this should be the MSA30 MI (multi-initiator) which was specifically introduced to support HP-UX MC/SG cluster as "low-end storage."

Two of the I/O module SCSI ports connected to the left 7 disks, the other 2 to the right half of the MSA30.

Hence you can mirror across the two halfes using MirrorDisk and you can access each disk from 2 SCSI HBAs (which can be in different hosts (i.e. cluster nodes).

Note that you will have to set SCSI IDs on two HBAs to 6 (default is 7) in order to avoid conflicting IDs. You do this at the BCH, go to SERvice menu, use SCSI command.

You will *not* have two paths to a single disks (from one node), hence no "alternate links" in LVM and no need for Secure Path.

Regards,
Bernhard

[Glenn N Wuenstel]

There you go. That's what I get for thinking I knew something. ;-)

Glenn

[OmarM]

Thanks Bernhard, very helpful.