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13 Dell EMC SC Series: Microsoft Windows Server Best Practices | 680-042-007
2.4.1 Limit volumes to one transport
When multiple transports are available to a host, when mapping a volume to that host, limit the transport to
iSCSI or FC by unchecking the Map to All Available Server Ports option under Advanced Mapping in the
Create Volume wizard. Select either the FC or the iSCSI paths and complete the wizard.
Limit I/O paths to one transport
2.5 Multipath I/O
Regardless of the transport chosen, it is a best practice to ensure redundant paths for each SC Series volume
mapped to a Windows Server or cluster as a LUN.
The main purpose of MPIO is to provide redundant paths for a server to access external storage. With
multiple paths, if one path goes down, another path is available to provide connectivity to prevent a service
outage. MPIO also allows for load-balancing over multiple paths (round robin is typical) to improve
performance when there is more than one active-optimized path available.
For more information on how to install and configure MPIO and adjust timeout settings, see the
Dell EMC SC
Series Storage and Microsoft Multipath I/O best practices guide.
Note: See section 2.7 for important guidance on adjusting timeout values for single path and MPIO Windows
Server hosts.
2.6 Boot-from-SAN
SC Series storage supports MPIO boot-from-SAN with Windows Server with iSCSI or FC HBAs. This is
supported in the sense that the HBA natively supports boot-from-SAN in its firmware or BIOS, and the HBA is
listed in the Dell EMC Storage Compatibly Matrix for SC Series storage.
For more information on how to configure boot-from-SAN for Windows Server with MPIO, consult the product
documentation for the HBA and the
Dell EMC SC Series Storage and Microsoft Multipath I/O best practice
guide.