Uwe,
Sorry for the long post, but I have read many items on this forum and although I understand that the MSA2212fc is not a true dual shared controller (a vdisk is owned by 1 controller) I still do not understand why my configuration does not work, since I have cabled all servers to see both controllers. Any advice?
I have a similar problem with my msa2212fc. We have fully redundant fc cabling with 2 StorageWorks 4/8 switches and 4 DL 360 servers. Each server has dual port Qlogic card with port 0 to switch A, port 1 to switch B.
The MSA is cabled as documented, Ctrl A port 0 and Ctrl B port 1 to switch A, Ctrl A port 1 and Ctrl B port 0 to switch B. This provides a fully redundant path to every DL 360 host running ESX server 3.5.
I created 3 test volumes with global LUNS 0, 1 and 2 on the MSA. Some servers see all the volumes on 1 of the 2 hbas, some see selected volumes on both hbas, but none of the 4 servers sees all 3 volumes on both hbas. It seems almost random, except that it doesn't change with reboots or rescans in Vmware.
The MSA storage manager even indicates the problem in the host volume mapping display screen by showing only 7 of the 8 WWPN numbers and various combinations of "Controller A port 0" or "Controller B port 0" or "Both controller A port 1 and Controller B port 0" for each host WWPN in the table. The way it is cabled, I would expect all hosts to see both controllers.
In addition, some servers see multiple paths under Vmware "manage paths" for some LUNS, but no server sees all volumes and paths. I have tried loop and point to point topologies with no difference. I always leave the MSA host port interconnect disabled as documented for my config.
The cabling has been double checked and all the WWPN numbers for all the devices and ports show up properly when getting port and device status from each of the 4/8 switches, so it seems to be the MSA itself which does not work right. The switches are running the latest v6.1.0d fabric, the vmware is the latest 3.5 update 2.
Thanks,
John
