Related Manuals for NEC Storage Software PathManager
Summary of Contents for NEC Storage Software PathManager
- Page 1 NEC Storage Software NEC Storage PathManager User’s Manual (Windows version) IS201-5E...
- Page 2 © NEC Corporation 2003, 2004 No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission of NEC Corporation. The contents of this book may be modified without notice in the future.
- Page 3 Preface This document illustrates how to use NEC Storage PathManager. NEC Storage PathManager multiplexes paths between a server and a storage unit in a system with Express5800 and the NEC Storage Disk Array SubSystem. edition: February, 2003 edition: July, 2004 Notes: (1) Functions described in this document are supported by the following software: NEC Storage PathManager 3.1 Enterprise for Windows...
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Page 5: Table Of Contents
PART I OVERVIEW -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I-1 Chapter 1 Overview of NEC Storage PathManager --------------------------------------------------------------------------I-2 About NEC Storage PathManager ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I-2 Configuration of NEC Storage PathManager ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I-3 System configuration ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I-4 PART II INSTALLATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II-1 Chapter 2 Installing NEC Storage PathManager ----------------------------------------------------------------------------II-2... -
Page 7: Part Ioverview
Part I Overv... -
Page 8: Chapter 1 Overview Of Nec Storage Pathmanager
When a failure occurs in a path and a storage unit can no longer be accessed during system operation, NEC Storage PathManager will detect the event. NEC Storage PathManager then switches the path to be used... -
Page 9: Configuration Of Nec Storage Pathmanager
NEC Storage PathManager operates on servers such as Express5800 and monitors the paths connected by FC cables between the HBA (host bus adapter) at the server and the HP (host port) of NEC Storage. NEC Storage PathManager consists of the following modules: /1/ NEC Storage PathManager driver This is a group of drivers that form the core of NEC Storage PathManager. -
Page 10: System Configuration
A basic configuration example of a system to which NEC Storage PathManager is installed will be illustrated below. ingle-server configuration In this configuration, a server and NEC Storage are directly connected. The system is relatively small, and the configuration is the most common. - Page 11 Figure 1-2 Single-server configuration ultiple-server configuration In this system, multiple servers are directly connected to NEC Storage. This system configuration is used when multiple servers having different tasks share a relatively large NEC Storage. Exclusive control such as access control is necessary among logical units used by respective servers.
- Page 12 Overview of NEC Storage PathManager luster configuration Below is an example of a cluster system configuration. There are FC switches between the server and NEC Storage so that multiple servers will make the same logical unit visible. Express5800 Express5800 StoragePathSavior...
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Page 13: Part Ii Installation
Part II Installation... -
Page 14: Chapter 2 Installing Nec Storage Pathmanager
- 100 series (*1) Storage PathManager on IA64 servers does not support NEC Storage S100 series. Setup The Setup CD is used to install/uninstall NEC Storage PathManager. The Setup CD allows the following actions: /1/ Installation It installs the program to the server and registers the HBA in NEC Storage PathManager. - Page 15 Storage may result in fatal damage to file systems. /3/ Follow the HBA setup procedure manual to set up the FibreChannel driver. /4/ Set the cross call of NEC Storage to "On." For settings of the cross call, refer to the NEC Storage manual.
- Page 16 /4/ Follow the instructions of the installer to install NEC Storage PathManager. /5/ Once the installation is complete, connect NEC Storage and the server used in installation (if you are requested to reboot the system, first reboot the system and then make the above connection).
- Page 17 Installing NEC Storage PathManager When turning on the server after uninstalling NEC Storage PathManager, make sure that the connection between the server and NEC Storage is not redundant. You can also set the cross call of NEC Storage to "Off."...
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Page 19: Part Iii Functions
Part III Functions... -
Page 20: Chapter 3 Functions Of Nec Storage Pathmanager
NEC Storage PathManager. An spscmd will activate the path state display function. The state of the paths managed by NEC Storage PathManager will first be described below. Then corresponding spscmd options such as the -getlun option used in path state display will be described. - Page 21 Use the -getlun option of the spscmd to check the state of all paths that are managed by NEC Storage PathManager. This will allow you to check which path is currently being used in each logical unit, which path is experiencing failures, and the settings for load balancing.
- Page 22 LogicalUnit #2 in the above image. After the "+++" symbol attached to the end of the logical unit name, the type of dynamic load balancing is displayed (NEC Storage PathManager 2.0 only supports "round robin" as a type of dynamic load balancing). Other logical unit numbers are surrounded by the "***" symbol.
- Page 23 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager When devices become completely invisible due to disconnection of the FC cable for example, the corresponding path information disappears instead of the path state being displayed as "Failed." C:\>spscmd -getlun *** LogicalUnit #0 *** >...
- Page 24 - LBMode: settings for dynamic load balancing - LogicalDiskNumber: number given to a logical disk - ProductId: product ID of NEC Storage - SerialNumber: serial number given to an NEC Storage unit - PortNumber: number given to a port - PathId: ID of a path...
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Page 25: Path Control
As seen in the above image, the paths are displayed in the order of their number for the logical unit #2. Path control Path control is a function to specify the state of each path managed by NEC Storage PathManager. Use an spscmd to use this function. Path priority, which becomes important when controlling the paths, will be described first. - Page 26 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager order of priority, from the highest to the lowest for each I/O. After the path with the lowest priority is used, the order returns to the path with the highest priority. When path priority or path state has been changed by the spscmd described below, the result will immediately be in effect for the currently used path.
- Page 27 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager A path with disabled priority will be excluded from the decision process of the order of path use by priority and dynamic load balancing process. Note that this does not mean that this path will be absolutely unavailable.
- Page 28 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager The following image shows an example when the -avail option is used. C:\>spscmd -getlun *** LogicalUnit #0 *** 0: Priority=2, PathNumber=4:0:0:0 > 1: Priority=1, PathNumber=5:0:1:0 C:\>spscmd -avail 4:0:0:0 C:\>spscmd -getlun *** LogicalUnit #0 *** >...
- Page 29 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager When using the -path option to specify a path, a path number (PathNumber) displayed in the -getlun option is inputted as an argument. Here, part of the path number input can be omitted. If multiple paths in the same logical unit match the result of partially omitted path number input, the first matched path will be specified.
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Page 30: Load Balancing
Load bal ancing This function distributes I/O loads to available paths that are managed by NEC Storage PathManager. In NEC Storage PathManager, there are two types of load balancing: static load balancing and dynamic load balancing. Each type of load balancing will be described below. - Page 31 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager Path Path LUN0 LUN1 Figure 3-5 Static load balancing Use the -path option or the -swap option of the spscmd to make settings for static load balancing. The following image shows an example.
- Page 32 C:\> In this example, the path to logical unit 0 which exists in NEC Storage is used in dynamic load balancing. Use the first argument in the -lbmode option to specify a path number of the logical unit to execute dynamic load balancing.
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Page 33: Cluster Liaison
The cluster liaison function enables the use of NEC Storage PathManager in a cluster environment. When abnormalities occur in I/O, NEC Storage PathManager first attempts to switch paths. If this does not work, then the cluster control program will switch nodes. NEC Storage PathManager can be used in (CLUSTERPRO) and MSCS (Microsoft cluster system) environments. -
Page 34: Path Patrol
MSCS. Path patrol This function periodically monitors the state of all paths that are available or unavailable for use. NEC Storage PathManager has a health check function and a recovery check function. In the health check function, paths that are available for use are monitored, and the failover function is automatically activated in case of failures. - Page 35 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager for use. If the I/O results in an error or if it is not complete before time-out, the paths are regarded as being unavailable for use. ealth check This function detects failed paths and makes them fail over by periodically issuing monitoring I/O to available paths that have not been used for a certain period of time.
- Page 36 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager ttings for path patr Use the -setwatcher option of the spscmd to make settings for path patrol. Use the -getwatcher option to check the settings. [For Windows 2000] C:\>spscmd -setwatcher 3:120:30:180 /1//2//3/ /4/ C:\>spscmd -getwatcher...
- Page 37 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager (Recovery check is not for Windows Server 2003.) /2/ Request interval The path patrol service issues monitoring requests for each path to the NEC Storage PathManager driver at this interval (default: 60, unit: seconds). /3/ Threshold This refers to a period of time in which paths have not been used.
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Page 38: Failure Avoidance And Failure Recovery
When failures occur in the paths, NEC Storage PathManager automatically switches paths to be used from failed paths to normal paths. This action is referred to as failover. When unavailable paths due to failures recover from the failures and become available again, NEC Storage PathManager automatically recognizes this event and adds these recovered paths to the group of available paths. - Page 39 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager Path Path Path Path Failures Recovery LUN0 LUN0 LUN1 LUN1 Figure 3-9 Failover (left) and failback (right) Active Available In use Unavailavle Standby Failures Figure 3-10 Failover as a result of failure avoidance...
- Page 40 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager lecting a method of failback In NEC Storage PathManager, two types of failback methods are available: active failback and standby failback. /1/ Active failback Failback is executed and the state of the path becomes active. The priority of a path that failed back becomes enabled.
- Page 41 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager nual failback When the abovementioned recovery check function is disabled, failback will not be executed even though failed paths have recovered from the failures. In such a case, use the -failback option or the -failbackall option of the spscmd to execute forced failback.
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Page 42: Log Extraction
SPS logs refer to log information internally held by NEC Storage PathManager, and information regarding operation of NEC Storage PathManager and failed I/O are recorded in the SPS logs. SPS logs are stored in a log storage folder (installation directory \Log) and consist of a currently used log file and the previous log file. - Page 43 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager Log storage folder spsevent.log.old spsevent.log spsevent.log The file name is changed, and... a new one is created. Figure 3-8 Storing SPS logs (2) When the new "spsevent.log" becomes full, the previous log file "spsevent.log.old" will be deleted. Then "spsevent.log"...
- Page 44 Some Paths are not Warn Some paths are not redundant redundant (*1) In NEC Storage PathManager 3.0 for Windows, Source and EventID in parentheses is used if any. In this case, the information on details and Date&Time is not outputted. III-26...
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Page 45: Message(Esmpro Liaison)
Message(ESMPRO liaison) The message function of ESMPRO reports the most important events among those outputted to the event log by NEC Storage PathManager. No particular settings are required in NEC Storage PathManager to use this function. Refer to the following table for event log information to be reported. - Page 46 Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager If you would like to use the Alert Manager feature of ESMPRO Manager, you have to set up the registries shown below on the server which ESMPRO Manager is installed. /1/ Set the registries shown below.
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Page 47: Part Iv Operation
Part IV Operation... -
Page 48: Chapter 4 Operating Nec Storage Pathmanager
Then operation starts. From then on, NEC Storage PathManager automatically starts up when the system starts up, and it automatically stops when the system stops. When the system starts up, NEC Storage PathManager automatically groups paths for each logical unit and conceals the paths in applications (to make only one path visible). - Page 49 During redundant operation, multiple paths are displayed under each "LogicalUnit." The example above shows that there are two logical units and two paths in NEC Storage. Refer to "Chapter 3 Functions of NEC Storage PathManager" for detailed information about the display.
- Page 50 As seen in the image, only the path that is found first is enabled in each logical unit immediately after installation of NEC Storage PathManager. NEC Storage PathManager can operate as it is; however, it is recommended that all paths be enabled and settings for priority be made as necessary before starting operation unless there is a special reason not to do so.
- Page 51 (2) Failback method When NEC Storage PathManager is installed, the failback method is set to standby failback. This is based on a policy that once failures occur in a path, that path should not be used until its complete recovery is confirmed.
- Page 52 PathManager takes the longest to recognize path failures when I/O timeout occurs. In such cases, it will take up to a minute for NEC Storage PathManager to be aware of the failures. So in the above example it may IV-6...
- Page 53 Chapter 4 Operating NEC Storage PathManager take up to a minute longer for NEC Storage PathManager to recognize path failures due to execution of failover. To avoid such situations, it is recommended that paths having priorities in numerical sequence do not have common resources.
- Page 54 Chapter 4 Operating NEC Storage PathManager Express5800 Storage PathManager StoragePathSavior ???????? Priority: NEC Storage Figure 4-2 Setting priority (2) IV-8...
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Page 55: Handling Abnormalities
Handling abnormalities AQs and troubleshooting If only one path is displayed in the -getlun option of NEC Storage PathManager, causes may be found in the table below. Refer to the descriptions in the table before making inquiries. Table 4-1 FAQs and troubleshooting... - Page 56 Chapter 4 Operating NEC Storage PathManager /2/ Select [System Information] from the tree. /3/ Select [Action] -> [Save as System Information File...] from the menu bar. /4/ Specify [File Name]. /5/ Click on [Save]. System information will be collected in a file with the specified file name.
- Page 57 Then starting from step /2/ above, select [Application] instead of [System] to collect application logs using the same procedures. (5) SPS logs Collect the SPS log file "spsevent.log." If the default installation destination of NEC Storage PathManager (C:\Program Files\NEC\SPS) is used, spsevent.log will exist at: C:\Program Files\NEC\SPS\Log\spsevent.log (6) Path information Execute the spscmd to collect path information.
- Page 59 pendix...
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Page 60: Appendix
–setfbmode state spscmd –setmscsmode state spscmd –setwatcher param spscmd –swap path_number1 path_number2 [Description] It is used to make settings for NEC Storage PathManager and to display its status. ●Options spscmd recognizes the following options and arguments: spscmd –avail path_number It enables priority of the path specified by "path_number."... - Page 61 /1/ Types of NEC Storage PathManager (Enterprise/Standard) /2/ Failback method (Active/Standby) /3/ MSCS liaison (Enable/Disable) spscmd –getmscsmode displays status settings MSCS liaison (Enable/Disable). spscmd –getmscsmode It displays the version of NEC Storage PathManager install. (This function is only for Windows Server 2003.) spscmd –getwatcher...
- Page 62 Appendix A spscmd It displays settings for path control. Health check: Settings for health check (Enable/Disable) Recovery check: Settings for recovery check (Enable/Disable) Request interval: Interval for issuing monitoring requests (in seconds) Threshold: Duration of time that a path has not been used (in seconds).
- Page 63 Appendix A spscmd state = Enable or E: MSCS liaison is enabled state = Disable or D: MSCS liaison is disabled spscmd –setwatcher param It sets the state of path control to the state specified by "param." Specify "param" using four numbers with a colon (:) in between (param = /1/:/2/:/3/:/4/) /1/ Health check / Recovery check 0: health check disabled, recovery check disabled...
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Page 64: Index
Initial settings ............IV-3 Installation ............II-2, II-4 a period of time in which paths have not been used.III-19 internal information ............I-4 About NEC Storage PathManager ....... I-2 iSpmLogger ..............I-4 Active ............III-3, III-4, III-8 iSpmWatcher ..............I-3 active failback ..........III-17, III-22 -avail.................III-10... - Page 65 Priority size relationship ..........III-9 spsevent.log ............. III-24 ProductId ..............III-6 Standby ............III-3, III-4, III-8 standby failback........III-17, III-22, IV-5 Starting operation ............IV-2 State ................III-6 Recommended settings for priority ......IV-6 state of paths .............. III-3 Recovery check ............III-17 State transition ............III-3 Registry ..............