Summary of San's: The overview with a correction.

From: Jim Kurtenbach <KurtenbachJ_at_crlcorp.com>
Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 09:19:52 -0600

Several pointed out that I incorrectly referenced the usage of zones in a
SAN. I apologize for my ignorance.

I said:
* A heterogenous SAN would probably work as long as the storage was
zoned so the hosts see only the storage they are supposed to (no file
sharing across platforms).

What I should have said:
* A heterogeneus SAN will work. A zone has member servers and
storage systems as components. The member servers can be of disparate
architectures (Winnt/Tru64). Access lists in the HSG's are what controls
which servers "see" which filesystems.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Kurtenbach
> Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 12:44 PM
> To: tru64-unix-managers_at_ornl.gov
> Subject: Summry of San's: The overview.
>
> Thanks to:
> Greg Rudd
> Pat O'Brien
> Alan at Compaq
> Greg Freemeyer
> Michael Wheelock
> William Magill
> Bluejay Adametz
> Dan Price
> Raul Sossa
> Scot Rogers
> Alan Davis
> and more...
>
> I did my best to reconcile some conflicting recommendations. If any of you
> experts find an error please let me know and I'll repost the summary.
>
> Summary:
> * No special licenses are required to connect a host machine to a SAN.
> The platform kits are handy for beginners but not required.
> * The software for the HSG must support fabric. 8.6 was the most
> recommended version. Apparently there are different versions that support
> Data Replication, Arbitrated loop and Snapshot.
> * A heterogenous SAN would probably work as long as the storage was
> zoned so the hosts see only the storage they are supposed to (no file
> sharing across platforms).
> * SAN switches are SAN switches. Most people either telneted to the
> switch to manage it, used the serial connection, or used a web interface.
> * Some excellent documentation is available at (got an adobe error on
> one doc!?!): ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/storageworks/techdoc/san/
> * Some operating systems can use multiple HBA's and paths (openvms,
> Tru64 v5.1). Other OS can not use it without additional software (AIX and
> NT require Securepath).
> * Your should configure two switches to have some redundancy at a
> critical spot. A SAN switch failure would be very bad without it...
> * Firmware for the HBA's, SAN Switch, and HSG's need to be up to date.
> * Tru64 version 4.x has problems with "seeing" SCSI id's higher than
> 7. The HBA's will produce pseudo scsi disk devices with id's higher then
> seven. These are invisible to the SCSI cam system. Compaq provides
> emxmgr which allows you to reassign scsi id's. A few comments not to
> connect Tru64 4.x systems to a SAN.
> * Keep track of your connections. Rename them to something
> meaningfull once they are established.
> * If you want to do enterprise backup inside the san, only certain
> OS's are supported by Veritas and Legato. Keep that in mind when buying
> enterprise backup software.
>
>
> Some suggested that your HSG's should be configured in transparent
> failover mode. I would think that mutlibuss failover mode would work if
> your operating system supported multiple HBA's/multiple paths.
> Maybe a few of you experts can straighten this out for me?
>
>
> Original question:
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> I am looking to setup a small SAN composed of the following HW components
> using Tru64 version 4.0G.
> This is my first foray into SAN-land.
>
> qty 1: Compaq SAN switch.
> qty 2: Dual HSG80 Ra8000's.
> qty 1: Ds10 alphaserver.
> qty 1: Ds20e alphaserver.
> qty 2: Fibre Channel HBA
>
>
> Questions:
> Do I need to buy any TRU64 special licenses/platform kits for this config?
>
>
> Do the HSG80's need to be running a particular version of ACS software to
> function in a SAN?
> (I have one HSG80 running V85G-0, Hardware E11 not in a SAN)
>
> Do I need special software to configure the SAN switch?
>
> Will a SAN like this support LINUX, AIX, Winnt 4.0, Winnt 2000 and Openvms
> at the same time?
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
> James Kurtenbach
> Clinical Reference Laboratory
> 8433 Quivira
> Lenexa, KS 66215
> (913) 492 3652 x 1651
> kurtenbachj_at_crlcorp.com
>
Received on Mon Mar 04 2002 - 15:20:06 NZDT

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