AIX Best Practices for SAN

Neil Youshak FTSS South Florida (954) 346-8566 neil.youshak@us.ibm.com

Introduction
Intelligent discussion of Storage for AIX
No sales pitch Not another one sided skew of a vendor selling storage Not a marketing scheme

Neil Youshak FTSS South Florida (954) 346-8566 neil.youshak@us.ibm.com

Topics
Multipath Drivers Zoning Storage Options: Fiber Channel, iSCSI or NAS The Disk Array Tips

MultiPath Drivers
Redundancy + High Availability
IBM = RDAC + SDD HP = Secure Path EMC = PowerPath MPIO
SAN Switch 1
p5

SAN Switch 2

HBA High Level Installation Steps

Install the HBA and correct drivers Firmware upgrade maybe needed Run cfgmgr to install the HBA Ensure the HBA is available by running 'lsdev -C | grep fcs
# lscfg vl fcs0 ROS displays firmware level of HBA # lscfg vpl fsc0 |grep Net display WWN #lsdev C |grep fcs list the adpaters in the host devices.fcp.disk.array.rte devices.fcp.disk.array.diag devices.fcp.disk.rte devices.scsi.scarray.rte # lslpp ah devices.fcp.disk.array.rte verify your multipath driver

Find the WWN of the HBA with 'lscfg -vl fcs0'. Ensure the child fscsi devices have been created with 'lscfg | grep fscsi' Install the FC SCSI array drivers:

Run cfgmgr -v to detect the disk arrays FLOGI

Display your SAN disks lsdev Ccdisk Possible Problems: If you see several other FC SCSI Disk Drive lines, then the array drivers are not installed correctly
Remove each FC SCSI device (with rmdev -d -l ) & check the driver installation. # lsattr El fscsi 0 this will show if the connection is Switch (sw) or Loop (al) Try running cfgmgr again Use SMITTY to change the connection type

Your host switch connection shows NL or L

MultiPath Best Practice

Rule 1
Always check the vendor site

Rule 2
Read & follow recommendations

Critical setting for HBA adapters..this is only if two or more adapters are present. (Thanks Inshan)
Use this to change default of HBA on VIO servers.
padmin # chdev -dev fscsi0 -attr fc_err_recov=fast_fail dyntrk=yes -perm

For Dedicated or standalone servers

root # chdev -l fscsi0 -a fc_err_recov=fast_fail -P
# chdev -l -a dyntrk=yes -P

HBA Tools
Use them

Zoning
Zoning = partitioning the Fibre Channel fabric into smaller pieces to restrict OS interference, add security, and simplify management. There are 2 methods of zoning
Soft zoning - Hard zoning

Zoning is not the same as LUN masking, but serves the same goal. LUN masking is usually performed on disk array controllers. VSANs multiple logical SANs over a common physical infrastructure. Each port can be a member of multiple zones, but only one VSAN. Different than Zoning

How to Zone Correctly

Soft Zoning Use Alias not WWN choose Port WWN Have a naming convention
hostname_fcs0

How to Zone Correctly

Zone Set or Quick Loop Single Initiator zoning Zone Naming convention
hostname_zone

How to Zone Correctly

Create your Zone Set/Configuration Add Zones Zone Config Naming convention
company_date

One Active Zone Set Backup the switch configuration Backup the zone configuration

Zoning Best Practices

Dual Fabric Soft Zoning Single Initiator zoning Naming Conventions Core Edge Fabric Design Configuration Backups Maintenance Window Firmware Upgrades

Fibre Channel iSCSI NAS

Differences
Fiber Channel Wide vendor acceptance & More expensive iSCSI Less expensive & Shorter learning curve/implementation cycle

When to use each

ISCSI Reference Links http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/index.jsp?topic=/iphcd/fc5714ussmitc.htm http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.aix.baseadmn/doc/baseadmndita/config_iscsi_adapter_aix.htm

iSCSI or Fibre Channel

Fiber Channel Wide vendor acceptance More expensive Complex installs and maintenance iSCSI Less expensive Shorter learning curve/implementation cycle New technology/lack of legacy vendor support

Disk Array
IBM DS8000, DS6000, DS5000, DS4000, DS3000, NSeries, SVC
HP XP, EVA, MSA EMC Symmetrix, Clariion, Celerra HDS USP, AMS, SMS, WMS, BlueArc

XYZ enterprise, SMB, NAS

Disk is disk. ??????

Are All Disk Arrays Created Equal?

Disk
FC SATA SAS Speed Spindle Count

Segment Size - Stripe Size

Read your vendors custom options

RAID
RAID5 or RAID10 . RAID50, RAID1

Tips
Always read the documentation Use vendor resources
Disk Magic - Capacity Magic

Network groups for support Try to have a lab/test system or play time Continuing education Zoning is where most problems occur Always check interop matrix Keep firmware current Baseline your SAN performance