Implementation steps

򐂰 Section 3.1.4 Configuring SDD

򐂰 Section 3.1.5 Using FlashCopy

3.1.1 Required PTFs

To attach an ESS to pSeries servers, either you or an IBM Service Support Representative (SSR) should get the latest AIX software fixes, firmware updates, and serviceability tools to keep your products updated to the latest supported levels.

The required levels of software and PTFs are summarized in Table 3-1. This information may change, so you should check for the latest information on supported levels and required PTFs to ensure that the installs and operates successfully.

Table 3-1 Supported level for pSeries (as of 9/04/2001)

Software Level APARs / PTFs

For more details about the release level for your operating system, see the following Web site:

http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/products/ess/supserver.htm

3.1.2 Volume assignment using StorWatch Specialist

The IBM ESS comes with a network-based tool that allows for managing and monitoring the ESS. This product is called ESS Specialist. It is a Web-based utility for configuration and administration, using a secure Internet connection (normally using a PC). You need a browser (such as Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or Sun Hot Java) that supports Java 1.1.6 or higher.

The ESS Specialist provides the customer with the ability to:

򐂰 Monitor error logs

򐂰 View the status of the ESS

򐂰 View and update the configuration

򐂰 Add, delete, or modify host systems

򐂰 Configure host ports (both SCSI and Fibre)

򐂰 Create RAID or JBOD ranks

򐂰 Add volumes and reassign volumes between different hosts

򐂰 View communication resource settings, such as TCP/IP configuration and users

򐂰 View cluster LIC levels

򐂰 Select an authorization level for each user

In this section we will walk through the steps for assigning physical volumes to a host. To do this, direct the Web browser to the IP address of the ESS system.

Figure 3-1 StorWatch Specialist login window

To the left is a panel from where we can access the StorWatch Specialist functions. After pressing the ESS Specialist button to start the configuration process. The default user name is StorWatch and the password is specialist in the above panel. The user name and password characters are all lowercase characters. After a successful login we can move on to configuring the ESS.

Use the Open Systems Storage panel and its buttons to configure new host system attachments and storage, or to modify existing configurations for the open storage type of AIX servers. Figure 3-2 on page 73 shows the menus available on the Open Systems Storage panel.

Figure 3-2 Storage Allocation panel

An overview of some of the uses are listed below.

򐂰 Modify Host System: Use this panel to identify the host systems that you are attaching to the ESS.

򐂰 Configure Host Adapter Ports: Use this panel to set the topology for Fibre Channel ports and to see the Fibre Channel access modes of the ESS.

򐂰 Configure Disk Groups: This button links you to the Fixed Block Storage panel. Use this panel to define fixed-block disk groups as RAID or non-RAID and to prepare them for volume assignment. This panel displays all disk groups that are undefined or defined as a fixed block. Once you have selected and defined the disk groups the ESS Specialist displays the group on the Storage Allocation panel.

򐂰 Add Volume: This panel is for adding logical volumes. The size of a logical volume can range from 0.5GB to 224GB (full rank size).

򐂰 Modify Volume Assignments: To remove or change the assignment of volumes

The next step is to define the host that will have access to the ESS system.

Figure 3-3 on page 74 shows the user interface used for this purpose.

Figure 3-3 Define the host system, WWN (world wide name)

In this step we inform the ESS system of which hosts are connected to the ESS.

To do this we select Storage Allocation -> Modify Host Systems. We are now presented with the Modify Host Systems window, which is shown in Figure 3-3.

The procedure is:

1. In the Nickname field type in the host’s nickname.

2. In the Host Type field choose IBM RS/6000 from the drop-down list.

3. In the Host Attachment field, choose Fibre Channel attached from the drop down list.

4. You may fill out the Hostname/IP Address field, but this is optional.

5. In the World-Wide Port-Name field, type in or select from the pull-down menu the WWPN of the host bus adapter. Select the World-Wide Port-Name of the Fibre Channel adapter on the pSeries.

6. After completing all of the fields, select Add>>. The nickname of the host that you just created should appear on the Host Systems List panel.

7. Repeat steps one to six to create nicknames for each Fibre Channel adapter on the pSeries system.

8. Commit the new configuration information by clicking the Perform Configuration Update button.

For our example, we have configured two nicknames to represent two Fibre Channel adapters on the pSeries server. The two Fibre Channel interfaces are shown in Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4 Example panel of two nicknames of one pSeries

The next step is to assign a volume to the server. We will assume that volumes were created prior to this step.

Note: If there is more than one adapter on a pSeries system or an RS/6000 system, we recommend that the nickname consists of the host name and some extension to distinguish between them. This helps later when we have to identify devices; for instance, when we setup zoning.

What you need to do is choose the volumes that you want to make available to the pSeries server and make the necessary changes on the ESS system.

1. From the Main Menu, go to Storage Allocation.

2. Click Open System Storage.

3. Click Modify Volume Assignments.

4. Highlight the volumes that you want to assign to the host. If multiple

contiguous volumes are to be selected, highlight the first, press the Shift key, then highlight the last volume. If non-contiguous, use the Ctrl key, and highlight each volume. Refer to Figure 3-5 for an example.

5. Once done, click Perform Configuration Update.

6. Once the progress bar ends, click OK. The volumes you assigned are now available to the host.

Figure 3-5 Select volumes to assign to the host

You can verify the list of assigned volumes by doing the following:

1. Go back to the Storage Allocation screen.

3. In the Host Systems pane search for the nickname of your host and click on the host. A list of volumes assigned to the host will appear in the Assigned Volumes pane.

Figure 3-6 on page 77 shows an example of the list of volumes assigned to our test server.

Figure 3-6 Assigned Volume List view

For more about StorWatch Specialist and how to use it refer to the IBM

Enterprise Storage Server Web Interface Users Guide for the ESS Specialist and ESS Copy Services, SC26-7346.

3.1.3 Implementation steps

In order to make sure that your ESS disks function properly, you will need to install all of the filesets listed in Table 3-2.

The base level filesets for the “devices” filesets in the table are on a CD-ROM named "Gigabit Fiber Channel PCI Adapter Software Upgrade." This CD-ROM comes with your Fiber Channel PCI adapter (or your system that contains the adapter). The latest updates for the filesets can be obtained from the following AIX service FTP site:

ftp://service.software.ibm.com/aix/fixes/v4/devices/

Table 3-2 AIX filesets required for ESS

The steps for configuring ESS drives on an AIX system is as follows:

1. Install the 2105 host attachment fileset (ibm2105.rte).

From the AIX command line, execute smitty install_update to go directly to the installation panel. Install both filesets listed in Table 3-2 on page 78.

2. Configure the Fibre Channel-attached ESS disks.

The newly installed devices must be configured before they can be used.

There are two ways to configure these devices.

a. Use the cfgmgr -v command.

b. Use the shutdown -Fr command to restart the system.

3. Verify the IBM disk drive connectivity.

To verify the configuration of the ESS on the AIX host system, execute the following command:

# lsdev -Ccdisk

A list of all IBM ESS disk devices should be displayed as shown below.

Example 3-1 Example of a list of devices

# lsdev -Cc disk | grep 2105

hdisk1 Available 14-08-01 IBM FC 2105F20 hdisk2 Available 14-08-01 IBM FC 2105F20 hdisk27 Available 14-08-01 IBM FC 2105E20 ...

...

If the disk devices appear as Other FC SCSI Disk Drive (as shown in Example 3-2 on page 94, it means that the configuration was not successful.

Example 3-2 Example of a list of devices

Fileset Current Version Source

devices.fcp.disk.rte 4.3.3.75 Gigabit Fiber Channel PCI Adapter Software Upgrade CD-ROM

ibm2105.rte 32.6.100.7 http://ssddom01.storage.ib

m.com/techsup/swtechsup .nsf/support/sddupdates

hdisk2 Available 14-08-01 Other FC SCSI Disk Drive hdisk3 Available 2D-08-01 Other FC SCSI Disk Drive ...

Check whether the proper filesets have been installed on the system. Delete the hdisk devices with the rmdev command and reconfigure the disk devices.

For more information on the Fibre Channel attachment, see Section 2.1,

“Preparing pSeries” on page 46.