HP StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Software User Manual
installation
and user’s
guide
hp StorageWorks
NAS Data Path Manager
installation and user’s guide
Edition: March 2003
Part Number: A7423-96001
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hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
Edition March 2003
Part Number: A7423-96001
contents
About this Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Related Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Document Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
HP Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
HP Storage Website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
HP Authorized Reseller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1 NAS Data Path Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Product Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Graphical User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Product Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Guide Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Data Path Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Data Path Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Data Path Failover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Automatic Failback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Install NAS Data Path Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Install the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Enable and Disable the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Monitor Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Use Performance Monitor to Monitor HBAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
View and Change Performance Monitor Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Observe Data Path Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
View Volume Groups for Path Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
View Volume Group Information in Tree View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Create a New Volume Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Contents
3hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
Contents
Edit Selected Volume Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Delete Selected Volume Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Test Selected Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Repair Volume Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Reset LUN Paths to Factory Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Refresh the View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
View Volume Group Information in Table View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Decide Whether to Manage the Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Manage the Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Learn to Perform Basic Data Path Manager Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Accept the Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Assign a LUN to a storage array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Take a path off-line or put it back on-line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Change path behavior (from alternate to preferred or vice-versa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Add Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Remove Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Optimize Path Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Troubleshoot Failed Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Restore to Default Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Recover from a Disaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
A Text API Commands for NAS Data Path Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
4 hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
about this
guide
This installation and user’s guide provides information to help you:
■ Install NAS Data Path Manager software on your HP StorageWorks NAS
8000 system.
■ Understand data path management concepts.
■ Monitor and manage data paths on your NAS 8000.
■ Reinstall and reconfigure NAS Data Path Manager after system Disaster
Recovery.
Intended Audience
This guide is written for system administrators, technicians, and HP on-site
service representatives who are experienced with HP StorageWorks NAS 8000
systems.
Related Documentation
In addition to this guide, HP provides corresponding information:
■ HP StorageWorks NAS 8000 on-line help system.
■ HP StorageWorks NAS 8000 1.6.0 Release Notes.
About this Guide
About this Guide
5hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
About this Guide
Document Conventions
This document uses the following formatting conventions included in Tab le 1.
Table 1: Document Conventions
Cross-reference links Blue text: Figure 1
Key and field names, menu items,
buttons, and dialog box titles
File names, application names, and text
emphasis
User input, command and directory
names, and system responses (output
and messages)
Variables <monospace, italic font>
Website addresses Blue, underlined sans serif font text:
Element Convention
Bold
Italics
Monospace font
COMMAND NAMES are uppercase
monospace font unless they are case
sensitive
http://www.hp.com
Getting Help
If you still have a question after reading this guide, contact an HP authorized
service provider or access our website:
http://
HP Technical Support
In North America, call technical support at 1-800-652-6672, available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
Note: For continuous quality improvement, calls may be recorded or monitored.
Outside North America, call technical support at the nearest location. Telephone
numbers for worldwide technical support are listed on the HP website under
support:
Be sure to have the following information available before calling:
■ Technical support registration number (if applicable)
■ Product serial numbers (NAS 8000 and arrays in question)
6 hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
http://thenew.hp.com/country/us/eng/support.html
www.hp.com/support/nas8000
.
.
■ Product model names and numbers
■ Applicable error messages
■ Operating system type and revision level (from Command View NAS Identity
page)
■ Detailed, specific questions
HP Storage Website
The HP website has the latest information on this product, as well as the latest
drivers. Access storage at:
http://thenew.hp .c om /c ountry/us/eng/prodserv/stor age.html
From this website, select the appropriate product or solution.
HP Authorized Reseller
For the name of your nearest HP authorized reseller:
■ In the United States, call 1-800-345-1518
■ In Canada, call 1-800-263-5868
■ Elsewhere, see the HP website for locations and telephone numbers:
http://www.hp.com
About this Guide
.
.
hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
7
About this Guide
8 hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
NAS Data Path Manager
Product Overview
HP StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager is an optional software product you
can purchase for the HP StorageWorks NAS 8000. It pro vides automatic path load
balancing and failover for NAS 8000 servers configured with multiple host bus
adapters (HBAs). The software allows you to customize your path settings, as
needed, to obtain optimum performance from your storage system. In addition,
Data Path Manager provides failover capability should all of the load balancing
(or optimal) paths fail.
HP NAS Data Path Manager provides:
■ Faster performance through dynamic load balancing over multiple paths from
the HBAs to the Storage controllers.
■ Automatic data path failover to an alternate path when a preferred path fails.
Using dynamic load balancing, NAS Data Path Manager balances the flow of data
through multiple paths to a specific storage location using a least-used algorithm.
It detects multiple paths to each device, identified b y a logical unit number (LUN),
and divides the data load among the designated preferred paths. See Data Path
Concepts on page 12.
NAS Data Path Manager failover allows access to storage to continue
uninterrupted, in the event of a failure of all preferred paths, by using available
alternate paths.
1
9hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
NAS Data Path Manager
Note: Data Path Failover and failover packages are different NAS 8000 features.
■ Data Path Failover is the ability of your system to use alternate fibre-channel paths to
get information to your storage in case all of the preferred paths fail. Data Path
Failover can be installed and used on any NAS 8000 (version 1.6.0 or later) high
availability (HA) or non-HA system, with the correct firmware revision. Please
contact your HP Service Representative for firmware information or updates.
■ Failover packages appear only on NAS 8000 systems with high availability (HA).
Using failover packages, your system can transfer control of data, per failover
package, to a different NAS 8000 server if one server fails. For more information
on failover packages, please see the NAS 8000 User’s Guide.
Graphical User Interface
Once NAS Data Path Manager is installed on a NAS 8000 server, additional items
will appear in Command View NAS, the NAS 8000 graphical user interface. This
allows the administrator to view and manage NAS Data Path Manager
functionality on the NAS 8000 using the same interface used to perform all other
storage management tasks.
System Requirements
NAS Data Path Manager has the following system requirements.
■ HP StorageWorks NAS 8000 system, (hpNasOs) version 1.6.0 or later
■ Fibre-channel storage devices
■ Host bus adapters (HBAs) connected to your fibre-channel storage devices
■ HBA firmware v3.90a7 or later
■ VA710x, VA740x, VA741x, XP, EMA, and/or EVA storage arrays
10 hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
Product Components
The NAS Data Path Manager product includes:
■ HP NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
■ NAS Data Path Manager Software CD
■ Software License Agreement
Note: This guide is also on the NAS 8000 Documentation CD in PDF format.
Guide Overview
This guide contains the following sections:
Product Overview Introduction to the features of NAS Data Path
Data Path Concepts Key concepts for understanding the software
Install NAS Data Path Manager Information needed to install and enable
Monitor Data Paths Tasks to perform to begin using NAS Data
Manage the Data Paths Tasks to customize data paths in different
Text API Commands for NAS Data
Path Manager
Glossary Definitions of important terms.
NAS Data Path Manager
Section Information
Manager
uses and capabilities
NAS Data Path Manager
Path Manager
conditions, to reset data paths to the default
values, and to recover from a disaster.
Text API commands you will need to install,
enable, disable, and restore NAS Data Path
Manager
11hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
NAS Data Path Manager
Data Path Concepts
Data paths exist wherever there are physic al connections from an initiator (a NAS
server HBA) to a target (an array controller). Data Path Manager manages traffic
patterns among all available paths between the NAS server HBAs and the LUNs
in your arrays.
Figure 1: Preferred (optimal) and Alternate (non-optimal) Paths
Each path is comprised of the HBA, controller, and any necessary networking
hardware. NAS Data Path Manager evaluates the paths and determines which are
considered optimal and which are non-optimal. This is determined by looking at
the overhead associated with transferring data from the NAS 8000 to a specific
LUN on an associated storage device.
12 hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
As a general rule, when a non-optimal path is used, the request is going from one
HBA through a controller that communicates with the controller of the target
LUN. Therefore, the data request goes through two controllers to get to the
specific LUN, instead of just one. (This is true for all except XP controllers, for
which all paths are considered optimal.) See paths to Controller 2 in Figure 1 on
page 12. The overhead is the slight increase in time required for the f irst controller
to talk to the second controller. In reality the time that it takes is quite small for
each data transfer; however, it becomes significant when you multiply the extra
time by the number of transfers requested.
By default, NAS Data Path Manager assign s optimal path s as preferred paths, and
non-optimal paths as alternate paths. For XP arrays and some VA arrays, there are
no non-optimal paths. In such a case, no paths are assigned as failover paths by
default, so you must set them manually.
Note: A path can be either preferred or alternate, but not both.
Data Path Load Balancing
Load balancing allows the greatest throughput of data from an HBA to a LUN by
using all available preferred paths, instead of just a single path. This allows users
to have faster access to the data on the specified LUN. Without load balancing,
you are restricted to sending data over a single path, ev en when it is more efficient
to send data over multiple data paths. Lengthy wait times can occur as all data
requests queue up on the same path.
NAS Data Path Manager
If one preferred data path fails, NAS Data Path Manager drops the failed path out
of the preferred path rotation, and continues to transfer data through other
preferred data paths without any loss of data. The switch-over is completely
transparent to applications, so normal operation continues without downtime.
All path events are logged in an Event Summary, allowing the administrator to
investigate and repair failed paths. A path monitoring daemon checks the health
and status of all paths every 10 minutes. If a failed path has been repaired, it will
be used again, according to the current load balancing policy.
Note: HA Package failover does not occur unless all preferred and alternate paths on a
single head fail.
13hp StorageWorks NAS Data Path Manager Installation and User’s Guide
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