HPE Primera initiator (WWN) limit

[steez]

Hello

I am confused about the Initiator limits on HPE Primera.

The question is - what is the maximum amount of WWNs supported for the array? Does the number change for different models and configurations (eg. number of ports)?

I found documents on 3PAR stating that it supports 64 WWNs per port and 2048 for the whole array, why there are 2 numbers? Does that mean that I can have 2048 / 64 = 32 physical ports each supporting 64 WWNs? Also that the port can't pass trough more than 64 WWNs?

Thank you

[sbhat09]

Hello @steez,

The special feature I know about ports and WWNs is 'a VV may be exported to the specified WWNs, regardless of which ports those WWNs appear on'. Can you please share your reference so that I can try to clarify it?

Regards,
Srinivas Bhat

[steez]

Hello @sbhat09 , thank you for the reply.

Yes, I also saw that particular document, however I would like to know the number of WWNs that can be connected to Primera.

For the comparison with 3Par I was mentioning this guide. Page 4 - Configuration, as you can see it it mentions that the 3Par model 7200 can address 1024 initiators (WWNs), however just before that it says that there is a limit for ports - 64 for iSCSI and 128 FC. Why there's a difference?

But once again - I would like to know the limiting numbers for Primera as we need to provide them and comply for a project.

[sbhat09 · Accepted solution]

Hello @steez,

In 3PAR 7200, the max number of initiators supported is 1024. Calculation is like this:
Max 16Gb/s FC ports supporting 128 initiators each (4*128) = 512
Max 8Gb/s FC ports supporting 64 initiators each (8*64) = 512
Total 1024 initiator WWNs.

For Primera, though none of the documents explicitly tell that, you can count 256 initiator WWNs per port (Max port capacity is 32Gb/s). You can calculate the max supported initiator WWNs for the system depending on the model and node pairs you have. 630 will support 16*32Gb/s FC ports. 650 and 670 will support 24*32Gb/s FC ports per node pair.

Regards,
Srinivas Bhat

If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!
Note: All of my comments are my own and are not any official representation of HPE.