HP 410GB User Manual

Download

Page 1

HP IO Accelerator version 3.1.1 VMware ESX and

This document is

plan to install and use HP IO Accelerators with a VMware ESX or ESXi operating system. It is helpful to have

elerator software

Part Number: 682240-001

ESXi User Guide

Abstract

This document describes software requirements for all relevant HP IO Accelerators using VMware ESX or ESXi operating systems. intended for system administrators who previous experience with HP IO Accelerators and a VMware ESX or ESXi operating system. This user guide is intended for IO Acc release 3.1.1 or later.

May 2012 Edition: 1

Page 2

© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express

warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor’s standard commercial license.

Microsoft® and Windows® are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Bluetooth® is a trademark owned by its proprietor and used by Hewlett-Packard Company under license.

Page 3

About this guide ........................................................................................................................... 5

Contents summary ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 6

Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Product naming ......................................................................................................................................... 6

Performance attributes ................................................................................................................................ 7

Required operating environment .................................................................................................................. 7

Supported firmware revisions ............................................................................................................ 8

Supported hardware ........................................................................................................................ 8

Before you begin ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Software installation .................................................................................................................... 12

VMDirectPathIO ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Command-line installation ........................................................................................................................ 12

ESX command-line installation ......................................................................................................... 12

ESXi command line installation ........................................................................................................ 12

Installation overview ................................................................................................................................ 13

Downloading the VMware ESXi driver ....................................................................................................... 13

Transferring the VSL files to the ESX or ESXi server ....................................................................................... 14

Installing the VSL on ESXi 5.0 ................................................................................................................... 15

Installing the VSL on ESXi 5.0 using vCLI .......................................................................................... 15

Installing the VSL on ESXi 5.0 using the command-line ........................................................................ 15

Installing the VSL on ESX or ESXi 4.x .......................................................................................................... 15

Installing the VSL on ESX or ESXi 4.x using vCLI ................................................................................. 16

Installing the VSL on ESX or ESXi 4.x using the command-line .............................................................. 16

Upgrading the firmware using ESX ............................................................................................................ 16

Upgrading device firmware from VSL 1.x.x or 2.x.x to 3.x.x ............................................................... 17

Enabling PCIe power ............................................................................................................................... 19

Configuring the device to support VM disks ................................................................................................ 19

Modifying a VMware resource pool to reserve memory ................................................................................ 20

Using the IO Accelerator as swap with ESX ................................................................................................ 21

Maintenance .............................................................................................................................. 22

Maintenance tools ................................................................................................................................... 22

Management utilities for ESXi .................................................................................................................... 22

Command-line utilities for Tech Support Mode ................................................................................... 22

Enabling PCIe power override .................................................................................................................. 23

Enabling the override parameter ..................................................................................................... 24

Common maintenance tasks ..................................................................................................................... 25

Disabling the driver ....................................................................................................................... 25

Enabling the driver ........................................................................................................................ 25

Disabling auto attach ..................................................................................................................... 26

Enabling auto attach ...................................................................................................................... 26

Uninstalling the IO Accelerator driver package.................................................................................. 26

Unmanaged shutdown issues .......................................................................................................... 27

Performance and tuning ................................................................................................

............... 28

Contents 3

Page 4

Introduction to performance and tuning ...................................................................................................... 28

Disabling DVFS ....................................................................................................................................... 28

Limiting APCI C-states .............................................................................................................................. 28

Utilities ...................................................................................................................................... 29

Utilities reference ..................................................................................................................................... 29

fio-attach ...................................................................................................................................... 29

fio-beacon .................................................................................................................................... 30

fio-bugreport ................................................................................................................................. 30

fio-detach ..................................................................................................................................... 32

fio-format ...................................................................................................................................... 32

fio-pci-check .................................................................................................................................. 33

fio-status ....................................................................................................................................... 34

fio-update-iodrive ........................................................................................................................... 36

Monitoring IO Accelerator health ................................................................................................. 39

NAND flash and component failure ........................................................................................................... 39

Health metrics ......................................................................................................................................... 39

Health monitoring techniques .................................................................................................................... 39

Flashback substitution events ..................................................................................................................... 40

Module parameters ..................................................................................................................... 41

Using module parameters ......................................................................................................................... 41

VMDirectPathIO .......................................................................................................................... 42

Working with IO Accelerators and VMDirectPathIO ..................................................................................... 42

Using products with multiple devices .......................................................................................................... 42

Resources .................................................................................................................................. 43

Subscription service ................................................................................................................................. 43

For more information ............................................................................................................................... 43

Support and other resources ........................................................................................................ 44

Before you contact HP .............................................................................................................................. 44

HP contact information ............................................................................................................................. 44

Customer Self Repair ............................................................................................................................... 44

Regulatory compliance notices ..................................................................................................... 52

Regulatory compliance identification numbers ............................................................................................. 52

European Union regulatory notice ............................................................................................................. 52

Disposal of waste equipment by users in private households in the European Union ......................................... 53

Korean class A notice .............................................................................................................................. 53

Acronyms and abbreviations ........................................................................................................ 54

Documentation feedback ............................................................................................................. 56

Index ......................................................................................................................................... 57

Contents 4

Page 5

About this guide

Accelerator. The 3.1.1 software and firmware reformat the drive which causes data to be lost if

Contents summary

• Instructions on downloading and installing the approved driver and utilities

• Instructions on maintaining the IO Accelerator

• Description of the following IO Accelerator models:

o HP IO Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class o HP PCIe IO Accelerator o HP PCIe IO Accelerator Duo

CAUTION: Before upgrading to 3.x.x software and firmware, back up all data on the IO

not backed up. The 3.1.1 software is not backward compatible with 1.2.x or 2.x software.

About this guide 5

Page 6

Introduction

Overview

Designed around ioMemory, a revolutionary storage architecture, HP IO Accelerator is an advanced NAND flash storage device. With performance comparable to DRAM and storage capacity on par with hard disks, the IO Accelerator increases performance so that every server can contain internal storage that exceeds the I/O performance of an enterprise SAN.

HP IO Accelerator is the first data accelerator designed specifically to improve the bandwidth for I/O-bound applications.

In addition to the hardware driver, the IO Accelerator also includes a VSL. This hybrid of the RAM virtualization subsystem and the disk I/O subsystem combines the best features of both systems. VSL functions as a disk to interface well with block-based applications and software, while also running like RAM underneath to maximize performance. This feature produces the following benefits:

• Performance: The VSL offers direct and parallel access to multiple CPU cores, enabling near linear

performance scaling, consistent performance across different read/write workloads, and low latency with minimal interruptions and context switching.

• Extensibility: The VSL enables flash-optimized software development, making each IO Accelerator

module a flexible building block for creating a flash-optimized data center.

Product naming

HP IO Accelerator Generation 1 devices include:

• AJ876A

• AJ877A

• AJ878A

• AJ878B

• BK836A

HP IO Accelerator Generation 2 devices include:

• QK761A

• QK762A

• QK763A

Introduction 6

Page 7

Performance attributes

IO Accelerator capacity Models AJ878B and BK836A

NAND type Read Bandwidth (64kB) Write Bandwidth (64kB) Read IOPS (512 Byte) Write IOPS (512 Byte) Mixed IOPS* (75/25 r/w) Access Latency (512 Byte) Bus Interface

IO Accelerator capacity Models QK762A and QK763A

NAND type Read Bandwidth (1MB) Write Bandwidth (1MB) Read IOPS (Seq. 512 Byte) Write IOPS (Seq. 512 Byte)

Read IOPS (Rand. 512 Byte) Write IOPS (Rand. 512 Byte) Read Access Latency Write Access Latency Bus Interface

320GB 640GB

MLC (Multi Level Cell) MLC (Multi Level Cell) 735 MB/s 750 MB/s 510 MB/s 550 MB/s 100,000 93,000 141,000 145,000 67,000 74,000 30 µs 30 µs PCI-Express x4 PCI-Express Gen1 x4

785GB 1.2TB

MLC (Multi Level Cell) MLC (Multi Level Cell)

1.5 GB/s 1.5 GB/s

1.1 GB/s 1.3 GB/s 443,000 443,000 530,000 530,000

141,000 143,000 475,000 475,000 68µs 68µs 15µs 15µs PCI-Express Gen2 x4 PCI-Express Gen2 x4

*Performance achieved using multiprocessor enterprise server

• Enterprise data integrity

• Field upgradeability

• Green footprint, 7.5W nominal per device

NOTE: MSI was disabled to obtain these statistics.

Required operating environment

The HP IO Accelerator is supported for use in the following operating environments:

• VMware ESX 4.0

• VMware ESX 4.1

• VMware ESXi 4.1

Introduction 7

Page 8

CAUTION: Version 3.1.1 of the driver software is not backward-compatible. When you install

HP StorageWorks IO Accelerators require firmware version 101971_6 or 101583. HP

version 3.1.1, you cannot revert to any previous version.

IMPORTANT: All operating systems must be 64-bit architecture.

NOTE: IO Accelerators cannot be used as hibernation devices.

The following scenarios are supported:

• Using the IO Accelerator as a VMFS datastore within the hypervisor, and then sharing that storage with

guest operating systems. Guest operating systems can be 32-bit or 64-bit architecture because they are not directly using the IO Accelerator.

• Using PCI pass-through to enable a virtual machine to directly use the IO Accelerator. Only supported

operating systems can use the device.

NOTE: PCI pass-through is currently supported on Windows® and Linux operating systems that

are supported by HP. For installation instructions and a list of supported operating systems, see the HP IO Accelerator Windows User Guide or the HP IO Accelerator Linux User Guide.

NOTE: If you are passing the devices through the system, you do not have to install the IO

Accelerator driver on an ESX or ESXi system. Install the driver on the guest system. Install the driver only if you plan to create a VMFS on the devices. For more information, see "Working with IO Accelerators and VMDirectPathIO (on page 42)."

NOTE: For best results, HP recommends running the latest Service Pack of a release.

Supported firmware revisions

VMware ESX version IO Accelerator

software

VMware ESX 4.0

VMware ESXi 4.0 VMware ESX 4.1

VMware ESXi 4.1

2.2.3 or 2.3.1 101583_6 or 101971_6

Not supported Not supported ESXi 4.0 is not supported.

2.2.3 or 2.3.1 101583_6 or 101971_6

2.3.1 101583_6 or 101971_6

NOTE:

PCIe IO Accelerators also support firmware version 101971_4.

Supported hardware

IO Accelerator firmware

(2.3.1)

Comments

Update 1; 101583 is compatible with both software versions.

Version 101583 is compatible with both software versions

HP recommends 101971_6 firmware

HP IO Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class

Introduction 8

Page 9

BladeSystem c-Class IO Accelerators have two distinct designs for the respective server product lines. The G1 through G7 IO Accelerator adapter is provided in a c-Class Type 1 Mezzanine card form factor. It can be installed in both Type 1 and Type 2 mezzanine slots within the c-Class blade G1 through G7 servers, enabling a total of two cards in a half-height server blade, and three cards in a full-height server blade and up to 6 in a double-high, double-wide server (BL680c).

The Gen8 adapter is provided in a c-Class Type B Mezzanine card form factor. It can only be installed in Type B mezzanine slots within the Gen 8 or later servers, enabling one IO Accelerator in a half-height Gen8 server.

The Type I mezz card and the Type B mezz card are distinguished by the mezzanine connector. The type B card is slightly larger than a Type I mezz card.

The amount of free RAM required by the driver depends on the size of the blocks used when writing to the drive. The smaller the blocks, the more RAM is required. The table below lists the guidelines for each 80GB of storage. For the latest information, see the QuickSpecs sheet to the HP IO Accelerator for HP BladeSystem c-Class at HP Customer Support (http://www.hp.com/support).

The Remote Power Cut Module for the c-Class blade mezzanine card provides a higher level of protection in the event of a catastrophic power loss (for example, a user accidentally pulls the wrong server blade out of the slot). The Remote Power Cut Module ensures in-flight writes are completed to NAND flash in these catastrophic scenarios. Without the Remote Power Cut Module, write performance is slower. Writes are not acknowledged until the data is written to the NAND module, thereby slowing performance. When the Remote Power Cut Module is installed, writes are acknowledged by the IO Accelerator controller to the driver. The IO Accelerator controller then completes the write to the NAND module.

The IO Accelerators (QK761A, QK762A, and QK763A) for Gen 8 BladeSystem c-Class have the power cut functionality embedded on the card. They offer the protection without requiring the remote power cut module.

NOTE: The Remote Power Cut Module is used only in the AJ878B and BK836A models. Without

the Remote Power Cut Module, write performance is slower.

HP PCIe IO Accelerator minimum requirements

• An open PCI-Express slot—The accelerator requires a minimum of one half-length, half-height slot with

a x4 physical connector. All four lanes must be connected for full performance. HP PCIe IO Accelerator Duo requires a minimum of a full-height, half-length slot with an x8 physical connection. If your system is using PCI 1.1, all x8 signaling lanes must be connected for full performance. If your system is using PCI 2.0, for full performance you only have to connect x4 signaling lanes.

NOTE: For PCIe IO Accelerators, using PCIe slots greater than x4 does not improve

performance.

NOTE: The power cut feature is built into PCIe IO Accelerators; therefore, no Remote Power Cut

Module is necessary.

• 300 LFM of airflow at no greater than 50°C. To protect against thermal damage, the IO Accelerator

also monitors the junction temperature of its controller. The temperature represents the internal temperature of the controller, and it is reported in fio-status report. The IO Accelerator begins throttling write performance when the junction temperature reaches 78°C. If the junction temperature continues to rise, the IO Accelerator shuts down when the temperature reaches 85°C.

NOTE: If you experience write performance throttling due to high temperatures, see your

computer documentation for details on increasing airflow, including fan speeds.

Introduction 9