3PAR InForm® OS 2.3.1 Concepts Guide (320-200112 Rev B, February 2010)

6.4
Port Target, Initiator, and Peer Modes
3PAR InForm OS Concepts Guide InForm OS Version 2.3.1
6.4 Port Target, Initiator, and Peer Modes
The InServ Storage Server controller node ports operate in different modes. Depending on the
type of port, the port may operate in target, initiator, or peer mode.
Fibre Channel ports use the following firmware mode settings:
■ Target mode for ports that connect to hosts and receive commands from those hosts.
■ Initiator mode for ports that connect to the storage server physical disks and send
commands to those disks.
■ Initiator mode for Remote Copy over FC (RCFC).
iSCSI ports use the following firmware mode settings:
■ Target mode for ports that connect to hosts and receive commands from those hosts.
Gigabit Ethernet ports use the following firmware mode setting:
■ Peer mode for Ethernet ports, used for Remote Copy over IP (RCIP).
Use the InForm CLI or the InForm OS Management Console to view or change the current port
mode settings. For instructions on viewing or changing mode settings, see the InForm OS CLI
Administrator’s Manual and InForm OS Management Console Online Help.
6.5 Active and Inactive Hosts
An active host is a host that is connected to an InServ Storage Server port and recognized by
the InForm OS. Under normal operation, an active host may have a number of volumes
exported to it and therefore the host has access to those volumes.
An inactive host is a host that is known to the InForm OS but is not recognized as being
connected to any InServ Storage Server port at the moment. This may be because the host is
currently disconnected from the storage server port, or due to an error condition such as link
failure or because the host is offline.
When a host on an InServ Storage Server port becomes inactive for any reason, the following
happens:
1 The InForm OS recognizes that the host is missing on the port and changes the state of the
host from
active to inactive.