Virtual Connect 8GB / 24 Port FC Module

[Eugen Rodekuhr]

In our environment we are facing a possible "Slow Drain Device", ríght now I try to nail down the root cause.

Up setup is as follows:

• OneView 3.10 - 3.10.07-0310774 
• C7000 Enclosure G2
• OA Firmware 4.70
• VC Firmware 4.50 / 3.09
• 6 HP ProLiant 460c G9 running Oracle-Linux"
• Bay's occupied 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 11
• 2 VC Ethernet Interconnects - 10/10D Flex10 Modules in Bay 1 and 2
• 2 VC-FC Interconnects - 8GB / 24 Port in Bay 3 and 4

During our troubleshooting we tried several things for getting the following informtion:

1. How is the traffic routed inside the VC M;odule - meaning which server uses which uplink (General View)? The old table from the 4GB FC module seems to be not valid anymore, but could not find any other table
2. Which Server uses which port in our setup?
3. What happens if a "Buffer Credit" is fully used?
4. Is the design layed out to automatically laod balance and redistribute the piort usage if a link gets saturated?

I have tried to get this Information out of Oneview from the GUI and REST-API, but so far I was not successfull.

With the "older" setup using VCM it was possible to get the information via CLI, but this is not supported in OneView - you are jsut able to get to maintenance console - which is not helpfull here.

As out customer loses his mind now I need some helpfull feedback as soon as possible.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Eugen

[ChrisLynch]

For a complex issue like this, the forums here are not the right place to troubleshoot.  I would strongly suggest opening a support case and elevating it to Level 2.

How is the traffic routed inside the VC Module - meaning which server uses which uplink (General View)? The old table from the 4GB FC module seems to be not valid anymore, but could not find any other table

You would see this data within the Logical Interconnect and Interconnect itself.  You would see which Uplink Port and Downlink Port is connected to what device, see what associated Server Profile, its Connection and Fabric/Network association, and be able to look at Advanced Statistics (which are all SNMP counters.)

Is the design laid out to automatically load balance and redistribute the port usage if a link gets saturated?

No.  Virtual Connect Manager doesn't offer this either.  You'd have to make sure multiple ports and paths were available, and then configure MPIO for "time of service"-like balancing algorithms, assuming the MPIO software used supports that.

[Eugen Rodekuhr]

Hello All,

Right - I cen see where the uplunks are connected too, and where the downlinks are connected too.

But this was not the question, maybe this is due to my bad explanation.

What I need to know how are the Server HBas mapped to the uplink ports ansd if this is somehow hard coded or flexible?

For exanple 2 VCs and 4 uplinks ports each and six Blades how do they map?

Is the mapping related to the used slots?

How is it done if Slots 1,2,3,4,5 and 11 ure used?

By the way we QLOGIC HBAs as Mezzanine Cards and they are layed out to connect to bay 3 and 4.

However we need to be able analyse was is really going on on the VC as far as traffic is concerned.

Look forward to hearing from you.

[Eugen Rodekuhr]

I know how the mapping - server distribution is done on 4GB VC-FC module!

see attachment:

How is it done on a 8GB/20Port or 8GB/24Port module?

[Eugen Rodekuhr]

Sorry for the delay in coming back to you, but we have had a bank holiday here in Germany and I was out of office.

Thank you very much for your answer.

It is good to know that the FC-VC modules uses the originator “FLOGI” for the the connection establishment.

However, my problem is that I need to verify which Blades is using which uplink port.

For our possible “Slow Drain Device” issues it is not good enough that we know the the uplink ports are working properly and are not saturated.

I need to be able to proof that the blade in Bay one is using uplink port X!

As we are not in control of the SAN and Brocade SAN-Switches we have no other way to verify that we are clean.

I need an answer which I can use to inform the customer, even if it is not possible to verify that.

From my experience it should somehow be possible to get an view how thwe blade connects end to end to the SAN.

I can see which downlink port (Server to VC) is used!

I can see which uplink port is used (VC to Brocade SAN-Switch)!

I need now to know which connection is used (Server-Downlink Port to VC-Uplink Port!

Look forward to hearing from you.

[Matthew Ingram · Accepted solution]

In Virtual Connect Manager you could see which uplink port a downlink port was using. This functionality was lost with OneView. You can no longer connect to VCM and Oneview doesn't display this information. I really hope they bring it back.

[ChrisLynch]

@Matthew Ingram, yes, it was present within VCM.  We are looking at bringing that feature back in a future version of OneView.  Unfortunately, I am unable to discuss versions and timelines in a public forum.  If you are a customer (or partner) who has an NDA with HPE, you can ask your account team for a produc roadmap update.