Getting Started Guide

2 HP BladeSystem Matrix hardware August 2011 6
Storage systems
SAN functionality
HP BladeSystem Matrix 6.0 supports the use of virtual and physical logical servers. Virtual logical servers
use storage from the file system of the hypervisor. Physical logical servers use storage provisioned from
the SAN for flexible movement.
HP recommends Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) with boot-from-SAN capability (for physical
blade deployments). BladeSystem Matrix supports any Fibre Channel storage solution, which supports the
Virtual Connect environment, N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), and boot-from-SAN capability (boot volume
as a pre-presented LUN). To realize the benefits of Virtual Connect logical servers, including the ability to
move logical servers and to easily repurpose server blades associated with inactive logical servers, you
must remove or disable any local disks.
HP BladeSystem Matrix 6.0 does not support physical provisioning with the HP StorageWorks SAN
Virtualization Services Platform, which does not currently support the presentation of storage to a Virtual
Connect HBA initiator WWN that is not visible on the SAN fabric at the time of the presentation. Virtual
Connect initiator WWNs are not visible on the SAN fabric until they are applied to a server HBA which
has been powered-on.
Use of Insight Recovery 6.0 requires an EVA or XP array per site plus HP StorageWorks Continuous
Access replication software.
The storage validation feature of Insight Dynamics 6.0 logical server management is supported on the
following HP StorageWorks Disk Arrays:
• MSA1000/1500
• EVA3000/5000/4x00/6x00/8x00
Fibre Channel storage and switch recommendations
For FC SAN solutions, HP recommends HP StorageWorks (XP, EVA, and MSA) Disk Arrays. Specifically,
the EVA4400 has been optimized for ordering and fulfillment with BladeSystem Matrix.
The customer must provide compatible connectivity to a compatible FC SAN array. Customer-supplied Fibre
Channel switches to an external SAN must support boot from SAN and NPIV functionality. Refer to the hp
website (http://www.hp.com/storage/spock
) for a list of switches and storage that are supported by
Virtual Connect Fibre Channel. Simple registration is required. Following login, navigate to Other
Hardware > Virtual Connect > HP VC 8Gb 24-Port Module.