FW V06.XX/HAFM SW V08.02.00 HP StorageWorks SAN High Availability Planning Guide (AA-RS2DD-TE, July 2004)
Table Of Contents
- SAN HA Planning Guide
- Contents
- About this Guide
- Introduction to HP Fibre Channel Products
- Product Management
- Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
- Fibre Channel Topologies
- Planning for Point-to-Point Connectivity
- Characteristics of Arbitrated Loop Operation
- Planning for Private Arbitrated Loop Connectivity
- Planning for Fabric-Attached Loop Connectivity
- Planning for Multi-Switch Fabric Support
- Fabric Topologies
- Planning a Fibre Channel Fabric Topology
- Fabric Topology Design Considerations
- FICON Cascading
- Physical Planning Considerations
- Port Connectivity and Fiber-Optic Cabling
- HAFM Appliance, LAN, and Remote Access Support
- Inband Management Access (Optional)
- Security Provisions
- Optional Features
- Configuration Planning Tasks
- Task 1: Prepare a Site Plan
- Task 2: Plan Fibre Channel Cable Routing
- Task 3: Consider Interoperability with Fabric Elements and End Devices
- Task 4: Plan Console Management Support
- Task 5: Plan Ethernet Access
- Task 6: Plan Network Addresses
- Task 7: Plan SNMP Support (Optional)
- Task 8: Plan E-Mail Notification (Optional)
- Task 9: Establish Product and HAFM Appliance Security Measures
- Task 10: Plan Phone Connections
- Task 11: Diagram the Planned Configuration
- Task 12: Assign Port Names and Nicknames
- Task 13: Complete the Planning Worksheet
- Task 14: Plan AC Power
- Task 15: Plan a Multi-Switch Fabric (Optional)
- Task 16: Plan Zone Sets for Multiple Products (Optional)
- Index
Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
110 SAN High Availability Planning Guide
Because of these problems, a fabric with a high ISL count is more difficult to
build. Note that the fabric problem is not directly related to the large number of
fabric elements but to the large number of ISLs associated with the elements.
Fabric build concerns currently limit the combined number of directors and
switches to about 24.
FCP and FICON in a Single Fabric
Fibre Channel Layer 4 (FC-4) describes the interface between Fibre Channel and
various upper-level protocols. FCP and FICON are the major FC-4 protocols. FCP
is the Fibre Channel protocol that supports the small computer system interface
(SCSI) upper-level transport protocol. FICON is the IBM successor to the
enterprise systems connection (ESCON) protocol and adds increased reliability
and integrity to that provided by the FCP protocol.
Because FCP and FICON are both FC-4 protocols, routing of Fibre Channel
frames is not affected when the protocols are mixed in a single fabric
environment. However, management differences in the protocols arise when a
user changes director or edge switch parameters through zoning or connectivity
control. In particular:
■ FCP communication parameters are port number and name-centric,
discovery-oriented, and assigned by the fabric, and they use the Fibre Channel
name server to control device communication.
■ FICON communication parameters are logical port address-centric, definition
oriented, and assigned by the attached host and they use host assignment to
control device communication.
In addition to OEM limitations not discussed in this publication, the
considerations that need to be evaluated when intermixing FCP and FICON
protocols are:
■ Director or Switch Management
■ Port Numbering Versus Port Addressing
■ Management Limitations
■ Features that Impact Protocol Intermixing
■ Protocol lntermixing Best Practices