HP LeftHand SAN Solutions Support Document - Application Notes - Best Practices for Enabling Microsoft Windows with SAN/iQ®
Table Of Contents
- Application Notes Best Practices for Enabling Microsoft Windows with SANiQ
- Contents
- 1 Chapter: Enabling LeftHand SAN volumes with the Microsoft™ iSCSI 2.0x Initiator
- 2 Chapter: Finding the iSCSI Initiator Version
- 3 Chapter: LeftHand Networks and Microsoft™ MPIO Support
- 4 Chapter: Expanding a Windows Volume on the SAN
- 5 Chapter: Shrinking a Windows Volume on the SAN
- 6 Chapter: Setting the Windows Disk Partition Offset for Optimal Performance
- 7 Chapter: Ensure That Application Resources on iSCSI Volumes Come Online After a Server Reboot
- 8 Chapter: Microsoft™ iSCSI Initiator Session Timeout Setting
- 9 Chapter: Measuring Performance in a Windows Environment
- Overview
- Using Windows Performance Monitor to Measure SAN Performance
- Setting up Windows Performance Monitor
- Saving a Performance Monitor Log for Analysis
- Monitoring More Than One Server Simultaneously
- Scheduling Performance Data Collection
- Using IOMeter as a SAN Benchmark Tool
- Configuring the ISCSI Volume
- Configuring IOMeter
- Configuring IOMeter Access Specification for each Test
- Running the Test
- Interpreting Results
- Access Specifications to Run
- 10 Chapter: Frequently Asked Questions
27
3 Chapter: LeftHand Networks and
Microsoft™ MPIO Support
Overview
LeftHand Networks supports the Microsoft™ MPIO framework with a
LeftHand developed Device Specific Module (DSM) that can be installed on
Windows 2003 servers to achieve superior fault-tolerance and performance.
The LeftHand DSM is available as part of the Windows Solution Pack,
available through your reseller. With SAN/iQ 6.6 and above, the only
supported method for using Microsoft™ MPIO framework is in conjunction
with the LeftHand Networks DSM for MPIO. Using the Microsoft™ DSM that
is included with the iSCSI initiator installer package is not supported in SAN/
iQ versions earlier than 7.0. The Microsoft™ DSM is supported in SAN/iQ
version 7.0 and higher, if using the LeftHand DSM.
If using SAN/iQ versions earlier than 7.0, LeftHand Networks
recommends that customers do not
install the Microsoft™
DSM during the iSCSI Initiator Setup, as it may adversely
affect volume and data availability. Further, LeftHand
Networks recommends that if installed, customers uninstall
the Microsoft™ DSM, and use only the LeftHand Networks
DSM to achieve MPIO connectivity.*
If using SAN/iQ version 7.0 or greater, and if using the
Lefthand DSM, the Microsoft™ DSM is fully supported.
Note: The LeftHand DSM for MPIO is compatible with the Microsoft
iSCSI software initiator only. It is not compatible with iSCSI Host Bus
Adapters.
* With SAN/iQ 6.6.x , customers with the Microsoft™ DSM installed will
receive an error message when they attempt to select “enable multipath”
when creating a second session to a volume. Earlier SAN/iQ versions will not
post this error message, yet problems may still occur, thus it remains best
practice to uninstall the Microsoft™ DSM if using SAN/iQ 6.6.x or earlier (or
on ANY version of SAN/iQ if not using the LeftHand DSM). Also, with SAN/iQ
version 6.6.x or earlier, if the Microsoft™ DSM is installed during the iSCSI