HP P4000 9.0 HP StorageWorks P4000 Windows Solution Pack User Manual - Page 8

and 64-bit support, Using the HP P4000 DSM for MPIO, Device Specific Modules and Microsoft MPIO - architecture

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32- and 64-bit support The SAN/iQ software and MPIO are supported on both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows Server. Check Server Properties to verify which operating system you are using. Using the HP P4000 DSM for MPIO The HP P4000 DSM for MPIO enables fault-tolerant paths to the SAN storage systems while increasing available bandwidth to the SAN for superior performance. When a Windows server running iSCSI connects to a volume on the SAN, it establishes an active iSCSI session to each storage system in the cluster. The P4000 DSM for MPIO enables an application server to continually communicate with the storage system that is hosting a copy of the data that the server is requesting. The SAN/iQ software aggregates the Ethernet connections, processing power, and storage capacity of all systems. This aggregation increases performance and capacity as you add storage systems to the network. Device Specific Modules and Microsoft MPIO HP provides a vendor-specific DSM to optimize multi-pathing using the Microsoft MPIO framework in the HP P4000 Storage Solution. MPIO is a key component to building a highly available, fault-tolerant SAN solution. MPIO technologies provide for the following: • I/O path redundancy for fault tolerance • I/O path failover for high availability • I/O load balancing for optimal performance The P4000 DSM for MPIO The P4000 DSM for MPIO provides enhanced MPIO functionality as follows: • Automatic creation of an I/O path to each storage system in the cluster on which the volume resides, plus a path for the administrative connection. • Improved performance architecture over native MPIO solutions: • Read I/Os are always serviced by a storage system that holds a copy of the data being requested. • Write I/Os are always serviced by a storage system that receives a copy of the data. Remaining copies (replicas) of the data are forwarded to the appropriate storage system based on the data protection level of the volume. • The ability to build a robust, fault-tolerant solution because an I/O path is built to every storage system in the cluster. For example, in a cluster with five storage systems, DSM for MPIO-connected volumes have six iSCSI MPIO connections to the SAN, one for each storage system and one for the administrative connection. Five of the six connections could go offline, and I/O would still be serviced. How the P4000 DSM for MPIO works The P4000 DSM for MPIO is a server-side plug-in to the Microsoft MPIO framework. The P4000 DSM for MPIO understands the data map of the volume(s) on the storage cluster according to the P4000 SAN data protection level for reading and writing data to the correct storage system. Figure 1 illustrates 8 Using MPIO

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32- and 64-bit support
The SAN/iQ software and MPIO are supported on both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows Server.
Check Server Properties to verify which operating system you are using.
Using the HP P4000 DSM for MPIO
The HP P4000 DSM for MPIO enables fault-tolerant paths to the SAN storage systems while increasing
available bandwidth to the SAN for superior performance. When a Windows server running iSCSI
connects to a volume on the SAN, it establishes an active iSCSI session to each storage system in the
cluster.
The P4000 DSM for MPIO enables an application server to continually communicate with the storage
system that is hosting a copy of the data that the server is requesting. The SAN/iQ software aggregates
the Ethernet connections, processing power, and storage capacity of all systems. This aggregation
increases performance and capacity as you add storage systems to the network.
Device Specific Modules and Microsoft MPIO
HP provides a vendor-specific DSM to optimize multi-pathing using the Microsoft MPIO framework in
the HP P4000 Storage Solution. MPIO is a key component to building a highly available, fault-tolerant
SAN solution. MPIO technologies provide for the following:
•
I/O path redundancy for fault tolerance
•
I/O path failover for high availability
•
I/O load balancing for optimal performance
The P4000 DSM for MPIO
The P4000 DSM for MPIO provides enhanced MPIO functionality as follows:
•
Automatic creation of an I/O path to each storage system in the cluster on which the volume
resides, plus a path for the administrative connection.
•
Improved performance architecture over native MPIO solutions:
•
Read I/Os are always serviced by a storage system that holds a copy of the data being re-
quested.
•
Write I/Os are always serviced by a storage system that receives a copy of the data. Remaining
copies (replicas) of the data are forwarded to the appropriate storage system based on the
data protection level of the volume.
•
The ability to build a robust, fault-tolerant solution because an I/O path is built to every storage
system in the cluster. For example, in a cluster with five storage systems, DSM for MPIO-connected
volumes have six iSCSI MPIO connections to the SAN, one for each storage system and one for
the administrative connection. Five of the six connections could go offline, and I/O would still be
serviced.
How the P4000 DSM for MPIO works
The P4000 DSM for MPIO is a server-side plug-in to the Microsoft MPIO framework. The P4000 DSM
for MPIO understands the data map of the volume(s) on the storage cluster according to the P4000
SAN data protection level for reading and writing data to the correct storage system.
Figure 1
illustrates
Using MPIO
8