IBM FlashSystem A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM XIV Storage System: Host Attachment and Interoperability

IBM FlashSystem A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM XIV Storage System: Host Attachment and Interoperability

by Bertrand Dufrasne, Bert Dufrasne, Roger Eriksson, Detlef Helmbrecht, Petar Kalachev, Bruce Spell
Released September 2019
Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
ISBN: 9780738457895

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Book description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides information for attaching the IBM FlashSystem® A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM XIV® Storage System to various host operating system platforms, such as IBM AIX® and Microsoft Windows.

This publication was last updated in May 2019 to cover the VLAN tagging and port trunking support available with software version 12.3.2 (see in particular section 2.4, "VLAN tagging" on page 67.

The goal is to give an overview of the versatility and compatibility of the IBM Spectrum™ Accelerate family of storage systems with various platforms and environments.

The information that is presented here is not meant as a replacement or substitute for the IBM Storage Host Attachment Kit publications or other product publications. It is meant as a complement and to provide usage guidance and practical illustrations.

This publication does not address attachments to a secondary system used for Remote Mirroring or data migration. These topics are covered in IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R Business Continuity Solutions, REDP-5401.

Table of contents

  1. Front cover
  2. Notices
    1. Trademarks
  3. Preface
    1. Authors
    2. Now you can become a published author, too!
    3. Comments welcome
    4. Stay connected to IBM Redbooks
  4. Chapter 1. XIV host connectivity
    1. 1.1 Overview
      1. 1.1.1 Module, patch panel, and host connectivity
      2. 1.1.2 Host operating system support
      3. 1.1.3 Host Attachment Kit
      4. 1.1.4 Fibre Channel versus iSCSI access
    2. 1.2 Fibre Channel connectivity
      1. 1.2.1 Preparation steps
      2. 1.2.2 Fibre Channel configurations
      3. 1.2.3 Zoning
      4. 1.2.4 Identification of FC ports (initiator/target)
      5. 1.2.5 Boot from SAN on x86 or x64 based architecture
    3. 1.3 iSCSI connectivity
      1. 1.3.1 Preparation steps
      2. 1.3.2 iSCSI configurations
      3. 1.3.3 Network configuration
      4. 1.3.4 IBM XIV Storage System iSCSI setup
      5. 1.3.5 Identifying iSCSI ports
      6. 1.3.6 iSCSI and CHAP authentication
      7. 1.3.7 iSCSI boot from XIV LUN
    4. 1.4 Logical configuration for host connectivity
      1. 1.4.1 Host configuration preparation
      2. 1.4.2 Assigning LUNs to a host by using the GUI
      3. 1.4.3 Assigning LUNs to a host by using the XCLI
    5. 1.5 Performance tuning
    6. 1.6 Troubleshooting
  5. Chapter 2. IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R host connectivity
    1. 2.1 Overview
      1. 2.1.1 Grid controller interface ports and host connectivity
      2. 2.1.2 Host operating system support
      3. 2.1.3 Host Attachment Kits
      4. 2.1.4 Fibre Channel versus iSCSI access
    2. 2.2 Fibre Channel connectivity
      1. 2.2.1 Preparation steps
      2. 2.2.2 Fibre Channel configurations
      3. 2.2.3 Zoning
      4. 2.2.4 Identification of FC ports (initiator/target)
      5. 2.2.5 Start from SAN
    3. 2.3 iSCSI connectivity
      1. 2.3.1 IP configuration
      2. 2.3.2 Preparation steps
      3. 2.3.3 Network configuration for iSCSI host connectivity
      4. 2.3.4 iSCSI start from LUN
      5. 2.3.5 iSCSI setup
      6. 2.3.6 iSCSI and CHAP authentication
    4. 2.4 VLAN tagging
      1. 2.4.1 What is a VLAN?
      2. 2.4.2 Tagging and trunking
      3. 2.4.3 VLAN tagging and port trunking support in FlashSystem A9000/R
      4. 2.4.4 FlashSystem A9000/R port trunking reference model
      5. 2.4.5 Managing ports and interfaces with VLANs definitions
    5. 2.5 VLAN usage scenario
    6. 2.6 Logical configuration for host connectivity
      1. 2.6.1 Host configuration preparation
      2. 2.6.2 Assigning LUNs to a host by using the GUI
      3. 2.6.3 Assigning LUNs to a host by using the XCLI
    7. 2.7 Performance tuning
    8. 2.8 Troubleshooting
  6. Chapter 3. Windows connectivity
    1. 3.1 Prerequisites
      1. 3.1.1 Supported versions of Windows
      2. 3.1.2 Supported FC HBAs
      3. 3.1.3 Multipath support and Clustering Options
      4. 3.1.4 Required software on the host
      5. 3.1.5 Boot from SAN support
    2. 3.2 Attaching a Microsoft Windows Server 2016, 2012 R2, or 2008 R2 host
      1. 3.2.1 Windows Server 2012 R2 and 2008 R2 Prerequisites
      2. 3.2.2 Windows host FC configuration
      3. 3.2.3 Windows host iSCSI configuration
      4. 3.2.4 Host Attachment Kit utilities
    3. 3.3 Attaching a Microsoft Windows cluster
      1. 3.3.1 Prerequisites
      2. 3.3.2 Installing cluster services
      3. 3.3.3 Configuring the IBM Storage Enabler for Windows Failover Clustering
    4. 3.4 Attaching a Microsoft Hyper-V Server
    5. 3.5 Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Storage Automation
      1. 3.5.1 Open API overview
      2. 3.5.2 System Center Virtual Machine Manager overview
  7. Chapter 4. Linux connectivity
    1. 4.1 IBM storage systems and Linux support overview
      1. 4.1.1 Issues that distinguish Linux from other operating systems
      2. 4.1.2 Reference material
      3. 4.1.3 Storage-related improvements to Linux
    2. 4.2 Basic host attachment
      1. 4.2.1 Platform-specific remarks
      2. 4.2.2 Configuring for Fibre Channel attachment
      3. 4.2.3 Determining the WWPN of the installed HBAs
      4. 4.2.4 Attaching volumes to an Intel x86 host using the Host Attachment Kit
      5. 4.2.5 Checking attached volumes
      6. 4.2.6 Setting up Device Mapper Multipathing
      7. 4.2.7 Special considerations for attachment
    3. 4.3 Nondisruptive SCSI reconfiguration
      1. 4.3.1 Adding and removing volumes dynamically
      2. 4.3.2 Adding and removing volumes in Linux on z Systems
      3. 4.3.3 Adding new storage system host ports to Linux on z Systems
      4. 4.3.4 Resizing volumes dynamically
      5. 4.3.5 Using snapshots and remote replication targets
    4. 4.4 Troubleshooting and monitoring
      1. 4.4.1 Linux Host Attachment Kit utilities
      2. 4.4.2 Multipath diagnosis
      3. 4.4.3 Other ways to check SCSI devices
      4. 4.4.4 Performance monitoring with iostat
      5. 4.4.5 Generic SCSI tools
    5. 4.5 Boot from SAN in Linux
      1. 4.5.1 Linux boot process
      2. 4.5.2 Configuring the QLogic BIOS to boot from a SAN-attached volume
      3. 4.5.3 OS loader considerations for other platforms
      4. 4.5.4 Installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1 on a SAN volume
  8. Chapter 5. AIX connectivity
    1. 5.1 Attaching to AIX hosts
      1. 5.1.1 Prerequisites
      2. 5.1.2 AIX host FC configuration
      3. 5.1.3 AIX host iSCSI configuration
      4. 5.1.4 Management volume LUN 0
      5. 5.1.5 Host Attachment Kit utilities
    2. 5.2 Boot from SAN in AIX
      1. 5.2.1 Creating a SAN boot disk by mirroring
      2. 5.2.2 Installation on external storage from bootable AIX CD-ROM
      3. 5.2.3 AIX SAN installation with NIM
  9. Chapter 6. Clients connecting through VIOS
    1. 6.1 IBM PowerVM overview
      1. 6.1.1 PowerVM Express Edition
      2. 6.1.2 PowerVM Standard Edition
      3. 6.1.3 PowerVM Enterprise Edition
    2. 6.2 Virtual I/O Server
    3. 6.3 Node Port ID Virtualization
    4. 6.4 General guidelines
      1. 6.4.1 Physical Fibre Channel adapters and virtual SCSI adapters
      2. 6.4.2 Multipath with two Virtual I/O Servers
      3. 6.4.3 Distributing connectivity
      4. 6.4.4 Zoning SAN switches
  10. Chapter 7. VMware connectivity
    1. 7.1 Integration concepts and implementation guidelines
    2. 7.2 vSphere traditional storage architectural overview
    3. 7.3 VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (VVols)
    4. 7.4 VMware general connectivity guidelines
  11. Related publications
    1. IBM Redbooks publications
    2. Help from IBM
  12. Back cover

Product information

  • Title: IBM FlashSystem A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM XIV Storage System: Host Attachment and Interoperability
  • Author(s): Bertrand Dufrasne, Bert Dufrasne, Roger Eriksson, Detlef Helmbrecht, Petar Kalachev, Bruce Spell
  • Release date: September 2019
  • Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
  • ISBN: 9780738457895

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