HP 3PAR InForm OS 3.1.1 Concepts Guide

Active and Inactive Hosts
An active host is a host that is connected to a system 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 system port at the moment. This may be because the host is currently disconnected from the
system port, or due to an error condition such as link failure or because the host is offline.
When a host on a system port becomes inactive for any reason, the following happens:
Procedure 1
1. The InForm OS recognizes that the host is missing on the port and changes the state of the
host from active to inactive.
2. The VLUN becomes a template again until the host returns.
3. If and when the host reappears on the same port, The VLUNs are converted from a template
to active again. They do not remain in an active state while the host is unavailable.
Adding and Removing Hosts
The InForm OS administration tools allow you to create, modify, and remove Fibre Channel and
iSCSI host paths and their properties. When creating a new host, you can either create a host with
or without assigning WWNs or iSCSI Names. A virtual volume that is exported to a host is exported
to all the WWNs that make up the host. If you need to export virtual volumes to particular host
computer WWNs or iSCSI Names, you can create separate hosts on the system and assign each
WWN or iSCSI Name to its own host. Use the InForm OS CLI or the InForm OS Management
Console to create, modify, and remove hosts.
Hosts can be grouped into autonomic groups that can be managed as one host. If you have a
group of hosts that require the same administrative procedures, it is easier to group those hosts
into an autonomic group and mange them together. For instructions on creating, modifying, and
removing hosts, see the InForm OS CLI Administrator’s Manual and InForm OS Management
Console Online Help.
Host Personas
Host personas are a set of behaviors that permit hosts connected to FC or iSCSI ports on the system
to deviate from the default host behavior. By assigning a persona to a host, multiple host types
that require distinct customized responses can share a single system port. For example, hosts
running Windows, Linux, and AIX operating systems can all connect to the same system port. This
simplifies connecting hosts to the system and reduces management costs related to complex host
connections.
A host persona defines the custom responses for certain iSCSI commands and does not affect any
of the FC port settings. Host personas are tied to the host name and identified by the host persona
number. You can set the host persona number when the host is created or modify it later. Use the
InForm OS CLI commands or the InForm OS Management Console to display, create, modify, and
remove host personas. See the InForm OS CLI Administrator’s Manual or the InForm OS Management
Console Online Help for instructions on displaying, creating, modifying, and removing host
personas.
Different host personas have different functions and support different host operating systems. The
specific host persona is designated by the host persona number. Depending on the selected host
persona number, the following additional capabilities are supported:
• UARepLun - Sends an unit attention when the LUN list changes due to adding or removing
VLUNs.
• RTPG - Enables the Report Target Port Group (RTPG) command and asymmetric state change
unit attention when path counts change due to adding or removing ports in the host's definition.
30 Ports and Hosts