Datasheet

Figure 5: Using NPIV for IBM i

From the storage subsystem’s perspective, the LUNs, volume group and host connection are

created as though the IBM i LPAR is directly connected to the storage through the SAN fabric.

While VIOS still plays a role with NPIV, that role is much more of a passthrough one when

compared to VSCSI. Note that an 8Gb or 16Gb FC adapter is required; however, the FC

switches do not need to be at that speed. Additionally, only the first switch – the one to which the

FC adapter on the Power server is directly connected – must be NPIV-capable. The rest of the

SAN fabric does not need to be NPIV-capable.

5.2.1 NPIV Supported hardware and software

Use the following link to determine the supported hardware and required software for NPIV

attached tape devices for IBM i: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/ibmi/media

5.3 Virtual SCSI (VSCSI) configuration concepts

For VIOS to virtualize LUNs created on open storage to an IBM i client partition, configuration

takes place both in the HMC, SDMC or IVM and in VIOS. No explicit VSCSI configuration is

necessary in IVM the majority of the time.

In the HMC/SDMC, the minimum required configuration is:

 One VSCSI server adapter in the host partition

 One VSCSI client adapter in the client partition

This VSCSI adapter pair allows the client partition to send read and write I/O operations to the

host partition. More than one VSCSI pair can exist for the same client partition in this

environment. To minimize performance overhead in VIOS, the VSCSI connection is used to send

I/O requests, but not for the actual transfer of data. Using the capability of the POWER

Hypervisor for Logical Remote Direct Memory Access (LRDMA), data is transferred directly from

the FC adapter in VIOS to a buffer in memory of the IBM i client partition.