HP MPX200 Data Migration Planning Guide

4 Performance and downtime
This chapter provides recommendations to improve performance and minimize downtime during
data migration.
Optimizing performance during data migration
The MPX200 uses all available paths to a specified LUN and performs load balancing using all
active optimized paths. HP recommends that you balance LUNs across paths on both array
controllers. Best performance is achieved when half of the LUNs are active optimized on the first
controller, and the other half are active optimized on the second controller.
Where high availability configuration as redundant SAN is deployed, HP highly recommends the
following:
• Connect one FC port from the MPX200 blade to one SAN, and connect the other port to the
redundant SAN.
• Connect FC ports from the destination array to both SANs.
• Maximize array performance by simultaneously running 4 to 8 active jobs on a single array.
The MPX200 can have up to 256 migration jobs per blade.
• Maximize MPX200 performance by running jobs on both blades.
• Balance the LUNs used in migration jobs that run simultaneously across two controllers.
• Run test jobs with different I/O sizes to determine the I/O size that yields the best performance
for your environment.
Minimizing downtime for offline migration
The ability of the MPX200 to deliver a migration rate of 4 TB/hour per chassis—combined with
seamless integration of the MPX200 in the SAN and data protection features such as array attributes
(source/destination)—make it likely that the downtime objective will be met by offline data migration.
To simplify the data migration project:
• Configure all migration jobs in the MPX200 before application downtime begins.
• Deploy dual blade configuration in the MPX200 to achieve up to 4 TB/hour (for storage arrays
that are capable of delivering such performance).
Before application downtime
1. Plan the data migration project:
a. Create the migration checklist.
b. Determine whether a change in multipathing software is required.
c. Build the LUN ID table for both the source and destination array to establish the LUN ID
relationship between the server and the MPX200.
d. Plan to migrate the LUNs from the same server, cluster, and application together.
2. Configure the MPX200 in the SAN: Perform proper zoning so the MPX200 can see ports from
both source and destination arrays.
3. On the destination array, create LUNs that are of equal or greater size than the source LUNs.
Do not present LUNs from the destination array to the server until migration is complete.
4. Based on the order in which LUNs should be migrated, balance the LUNs across multiple
controllers of the same array.
5. Present the source LUNs and destination LUNs to the MPX200.
6. Use the MPX200 user interface to assign appropriate (source and destination) attributes to
the storage array.
Optimizing performance during data migration 13