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Preface
5 Dell EMC SC Series Storage and Microsoft Multipath I/O | CML1004
1 Preface
This document provides an overview of Microsoft
®
Multipath I/O (MPIO) along with best practice guidelines for
configuring MPIO on Microsoft Windows Server
®
2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, and 2016 with Dell EMC
SC
Series storage.
Nano Server was an installation option (in addition to Core and Desktop) offered for the first time with
Windows Server 2016. Nano Server was originally designed to run as a base OS on physical or virtual
servers. However, support for Nano Server as an OS for physical or virtual servers was discontinued by
Microsoft with the September 2017 semi-annual channel (SAC) 1709 update of Windows Server 2016. Nano
Server is now supported as a container OS only. For more information, view the Dell EMC SC Series Storage
and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 best practices guide, as well as the resources on Microsoft TechNet.
Note: Mainstream support for Windows Server 2008 R2 ended in January 2015, and extended support is
scheduled to end in January 2020. Customers with Windows Server 2008 R2 should plan to migrate to a
newer Windows Server OS before extended support ends.
1.1 Audience
This document was written for system administrators who are responsible for the setup and maintenance of
Windows servers and associated storage and who wish to learn more about MPIO configuration and best
practices with SC Series storage. Readers should have working knowledge of Windows Server and
SC Series storage.
1.2 Feedback
We value customer feedback as we strive to provide high quality documentation in support of Dell EMC
products. Please send feedback or recommendations on how we can improve this document to
StorageSolutionsFeedback@dell.com.