XP512 and mixed host modes

[Paul Cross_1]

quick question about mixing OS types on an HDS with brocade switches:

All the ports on our HDS are set for host mode 08. We are introducing a new OS into our SAN with a different host mode. Do we have to dedicate a port for mode 09 or can this be done so that it is shared somehow between the 2 OSes?

[Peter Mattei]

Are you really talking about an hp XP512?
If yes, this is not an HDS machine.
HP is OEMing the base machine from Hitachi Japan Ltd and has it's own features and microcode.
HDS is just reselling the base machine with the native feature set.

Nevertheless, Hostmode 08 is for HP-UX and 09 for Solaris and VxVM-DMP.

On an XP512 the host mode has to be set for the Fibre Channel Port of the array. Therefore you are not able to share your 2 OSes on the very same ports!

FYI, this has change on the XP128 and XP1024. Here you can define multiple Hostgroups per port and every Hostgroup can have a different Hostmode.

Cheers
Peter

[Sanjay Kumar Suri]

On XP512, before creating any LUN, for each CHIP port the proper host mode and Fibre channel topology must be set. Then only LUNs can be defined.

In case of XP1024/128 up to 32 host groups can be defined per CHIP port.

Each OS has separate host mode; 05 - Open VMS, 07 - Tru64, 08-HP-UX, 09-Solaris, 0A - Netware etc.

sks