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
98 SAN High Availability Planning Guide
Each edge switch connects (through at least one ISL) to each core switch but not
to other edge switches. There are typically more device connections to an edge
switch than ISL connections; therefore, edge switches act as consolidation points
for servers and storage devices. The ratio of ISLs to device connections for each
switch is a function of device performance. For additional information, refer to
“FCP and FICON in a Single Fabric” on page 110.
Fibre channel devices (servers and storage devices) connect to core or edge fabric
elements in tiers. These tiers are defined as follows:
■ Tier 1 — A Tier 1 device connects directly to a core director or switch. Tier 1
devices are typically high-use or high-I/O devices that consume substantial
bandwidth and should not be connected through an ISL. In addition, IBM
fiber connection (FICON) devices cannot communicate through E_Ports
(ISLs) and must use Tier 1 connectivity. For additional information, refer to
“FCP and FICON in a Single Fabric” on page 110.
■ Tier 2 — A Tier 2 device connects to an edge switch and Fibre Channel
traffic from the device must traverse only one ISL (hop) to reach a device
attached to a core director or switch.
■ Tier 3 — A Tier 3 device connects to an edge switch and Fibre Channel
traffic from the device can traverse two ISLs (hops) to reach a device attached
to a core director or switch.
Fabric Island
A fabric island topology connects several geographically diverse Fibre Channel
fabrics. These fabrics may also comprise different topologies (cascaded, ring,
mesh, or core-to-edge), but may require connectivity for shared data access,
resource consolidation, data backup, remote mirroring, or disaster recovery.
When connecting multiple fabrics, data traffic patterns and fabric performance
requirements must be well known. Fabric island connectivity must adhere to
topology limits, including maximum number of fabric elements and ISL hop
count. It is also essential to maintain data locality within fabric islands as much as
possible, and to closely monitor bandwidth usage between the fabric islands.