HP IO Accelerator Version 3.2.3 Linux
IO Accelerators with a Linux operating system. It is helpful to have previous experience with HP
Part Number: 647094-003
User Guide
Abstract
This document describes software requirements for all relevant HP IO Accelerators using Linux operating systems. This document is intended for
system administrators who plan to install and use HP
IO Accelerators and a Linux operating system. This user guide is intended for IO Accelerator software release 3.2.3 or later.
February 2013
Edition: 3
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Contents
About this guide ........................................................................................................................... 6
Contents summary ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 7
Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Product naming ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Performance attributes ................................................................................................................................ 8
Required operating environment .................................................................................................................. 9
Supported firmware revisions ............................................................................................................ 9
Supported hardware ........................................................................................................................ 9
Software installation .................................................................................................................... 12
Installation overview ................................................................................................................................ 12
Installing RPM packages on SUSE, RHEL, and OEL ...................................................................................... 12
Building the IO Accelerator driver from source ............................................................................................ 14
Building an RPM installation package .............................................................................................. 14
Upgrading device firmware from VSL 1.x.x or 2.x.x to 3.x.x ......................................................................... 15
Upgrading procedure .................................................................................................................... 16
Loading the IO Accelerator driver .............................................................................................................. 18
Controlling IO Accelerator driver loading ......................................................................................... 18
Using the init script ........................................................................................................................ 19
Mounting filesystems ...................................................................................................................... 20
Handling IO Accelerator driver unloads ........................................................................................... 20
Setting the IO Accelerator driver options .................................................................................................... 20
Using module parameters ............................................................................................................... 20
One-time configuration ................................................................................................................... 21
Persistent configuration ................................................................................................................... 21
Upgrading the firmware ........................................................................................................................... 21
Enabling PCIe power ............................................................................................................................... 22
Using the device as swap ......................................................................................................................... 22
Using the Logical Volume Manager ........................................................................................................... 22
Configuring RAID .................................................................................................................................... 23
RAID 0 ......................................................................................................................................... 23
RAID 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 25
RAID 10 ....................................................................................................................................... 25
Understanding Discard (TRIM) support ....................................................................................................... 26
Discard TRIM on Linux .................................................................................................................... 26
Setting up SNMP for Linux ........................................................................................................... 27
SNMP details for Linux ............................................................................................................................. 27
Files and directories ................................................................................................................................. 27
SNMP master agent................................................................................................................................. 27
Launching the SNMP master agent .................................................................................................. 27
Configuring the SNMP master agent ................................................................................................ 28
SNMP agentX subagent ........................................................................................................................... 28
Installing the SNMP subagent .......................................................................................................... 28
Running and configuring the SNMP subagent ................................................................................... 29
Contents 3
Manually running the SNMP subagent ............................................................................................. 29
Subagent log file ........................................................................................................................... 29
Using the SNMP sample config files........................................................................................................... 30
Enabling SNMP test mode ........................................................................................................................ 30
Troubleshooting SNMP ............................................................................................................................ 33
Supported SNMP MIB fields ..................................................................................................................... 33
Maintenance .............................................................................................................................. 35
Maintenance tools ................................................................................................................................... 35
Device LED indicators .............................................................................................................................. 35
HP IO Accelerator Management Tool ......................................................................................................... 35
Command-line utilities .............................................................................................................................. 35
Enabling PCIe power override .................................................................................................................. 36
Enabling the override parameter ..................................................................................................... 37
Common maintenance tasks ..................................................................................................................... 37
Unloading the IO Accelerator driver ................................................................................................ 38
Uninstalling the IO Accelerator driver RPM package .......................................................................... 38
Uninstalling the IO Accelerator Utilities, IO Accelerator Management Tool 2.x, and other support packages
................................................................................................................................................... 38
Disabling auto attach ..................................................................................................................... 38
Unmanaged shutdown issues .......................................................................................................... 39
Disabling the driver ....................................................................................................................... 39
Utilities ...................................................................................................................................... 40
Utilities reference ..................................................................................................................................... 40
fio-attach ................................................................................................................................................ 40
fio-beacon .............................................................................................................................................. 41
fio-bugreport ........................................................................................................................................... 41
fio-detach ............................................................................................................................................... 42
fio-format ............................................................................................................................................... 43
fio-pci-check ........................................................................................................................................... 44
fio-snmp-agentx ....................................................................................................................................... 45
fio-status ................................................................................................................................................. 45
fio-sure-erase .......................................................................................................................................... 47
fio-update-iodrive .................................................................................................................................... 49
Monitoring IO Accelerator health ................................................................................................. 52
NAND flash and component failure ........................................................................................................... 52
Health metrics ......................................................................................................................................... 52
Health monitoring techniques .................................................................................................................... 53
About flashback protection technology ....................................................................................................... 54
Software RAID and health monitoring ........................................................................................................ 54
Performance and tuning ............................................................................................................... 55
Introduction to performance and tuning ...................................................................................................... 55
Disabling DVFS ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Limiting APCI C-states .............................................................................................................................. 55
Setting NUMA affinity .............................................................................................................................. 56
Setting the interrupt handler affinity ........................................................................................................... 56
NUMA configuration ................................................................................................................... 57
Introduction to NUMA architecture ............................................................................................................ 57
NUMA node override parameter ............................................................................................................... 57
Advanced configuration example .............................................................................................................. 57
Contents 4
Resources .................................................................................................................................. 59
Subscription service ................................................................................................................................. 59
For more information ............................................................................................................................... 59
Regulatory information ................................................................................................................ 60
Safety and regulatory compliance ............................................................................................................. 60
Turkey RoHS material content declaration ................................................................................................... 60
Ukraine RoHS material content declaration ................................................................................................. 60
Warranty information .............................................................................................................................. 60
Support and other resources ........................................................................................................ 61
Before you contact HP .............................................................................................................................. 61
HP contact information ............................................................................................................................. 61
Customer Self Repair ............................................................................................................................... 61
Acronyms and abbreviations ........................................................................................................ 69
Documentation feedback ............................................................................................................. 71
Index ......................................................................................................................................... 72
Contents 5
About this guide
Accelerator. The 3.2.3 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 3.2.3 software is not backward compatible with 1.2.x or 2.x software.
About this guide 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: HP 80GB IO Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
• AJ877A: HP 160GB IO Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
• AJ878A: HP 320GB IO Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
• AJ878B: HP 320 GB IO MLC Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
• BK836A: HP 640GB IO MLC Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
IMPORTANT: Generation 1 IO accelerators for BladeSystem c-Class are only compatible with
• 600278-B21: HP 160GB Single Level Cell PCIe ioDrive for ProLiant Servers
G7 and earlier server blades.
• 600279-B21: HP 320GB Multi Level Cell PCIe ioDrive for ProLiant Servers
• 600281-B21: HP 320GB Single Level Cell PCIe ioDrive Duo for ProLiant Servers
• 600282-B21: HP 640GB Multi Level Cell PCIe ioDrive Duo for ProLiant Servers
• 641027-B21: HP 1.28TB Multi Level Cell PCIe ioDrive Duo for ProLiant Servers
HP IO Accelerator Generation 2 devices include:
• QK761A: HP 365GB IO MLC Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
Introduction 7
• QK762A: HP 785GB IO MLC Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
• QK763A: HP 1.2 TB IO MLC Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
IMPORTANT: Generation 2 IO accelerators for BladeSystem c-Class are only compatible with
Gen8 and later server blades.
• 673642-B21: HP 365GB Multi Level Cell G2 PCIe ioDrive2 for ProLiant Servers
• 673644-B21: HP 785GB Multi Level Cell G2 PCIe ioDrive2 for ProLiant Servers
• 673646-B21: HP 1205GB Multi Level Cell G2 PCIe ioDrive2 for ProLiant Servers
• 673648-B21: HP 2410GB Multi Level Cell G2 PCIe ioDrive2 Duo for ProLiant Servers
• 721458-B21: HP 3.0TB Multi Level Cell G2 PCIe ioDrive2 for ProLiant Servers
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
Introduction 8
NOTE: MSI was disabled to obtain these statistics.
Required operating environment
The HP IO Accelerator with software 3.2.3 is supported for use in the following operating environments:
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (AMD64/EM64T)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (AMD64/EM64T)
• SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 10 (AMD64/EM64T)
• SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 11 (AMD64/EM64T)
CAUTION: Version 3.1.0 or greater of the driver software is not backward-compatible with any
previous driver version. When you install version 3.2.3, 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.
Supported firmware revisions
After February 19, 2013, all IO Accelerators ship with firmware version 7.1.13.109322 or higher. This
firmware version only works with VSL 3.2.2 or higher. If you are installing a recently purchased or a
replacement IO Accelerator into a system that already has IO Accelerators installed, then you must upgrade
the firmware on the previously installed devices to 7.1.13.109322 or higher. You must also upgrade the VSL
to 3.2.2 or higher. Upgrading the firmware and VSL on cards that were running firmware versions 6.x.x or
higher and VSL 3.x.x or higher is NOT data destructive. However, HP recommends that you back up any
data on the device before performing the upgrade. The latest supported version of the firmware and VSL can
be found on the HP website (http://www.hp.com).
Release Firmware revision
1.2.4
1.2.7
1.2.8.4
2.2.x
2.2.3
2.3.1
3.1.1
3.2.3
17350
36867 or 42014
43246
43674
101583
101971 4 or 101971_6
107004 or greater
109322
Supported hardware
HP IO Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class
Introduction 9
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