Users Guide
Table Of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Installing and Uninstalling
- Chapter 3: Configuration
- 3.1 FC Driver Configuration
- 3.2 vPort Configuration
- 3.3 FC Driver Performance Tuning
- Chapter 4: Configuring NVMe over FC
- Chapter 5: Troubleshooting
- Appendix A: FCP Driver BlockGuard Functionality
- Appendix B: Configuring NVMe over FC on a Target
- Appendix C: Native NVMe Multipathing
- Appendix D: Trunking Support
- Appendix E: FC-SP-2 Authentication (DH-CHAP) Support
- Appendix F: ARM Support
Broadcom DRVLin-UG128-100
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Emulex Drivers for Linux User Guide
3.1.6 ExpressLane Support
The host servers do not distinguish between lower and higher priority workloads being sent to LUNs. For flash storage
deployed in mixed storage environments, the combination of data from rotating media and flash devices can cause
congestion on the network and reduced performance for the flash storage devices.
The ExpressLane feature enables special priority queuing for selected LUNs (ExpressLane LUNs). The ExpressLane LUN
performance is superior to that of regular LUNs. Mixed storage environments can use the ExpressLane feature to alleviate
congestion, reduce latency, and improve throughput, ensuring that key applications receive highest priority. Switches can
provide up to three priority levels: Low, Medium, and High,
NOTE: The ExpressLane feature is supported only on Emulex LPe16000-series, LPe31000-series, and LPe32000-series
adapters.
The following requirements must be met to use the ExpressLane feature:
An ExpressLane LUN must be enabled in the driver before it can be used by the Emulex HBA Manager application.
Additionally, the priority value to mark each of the ExpressLane frames must be specified to the FC driver through the
appropriate driver parameters. For additional information, refer to the Emulex HBA Manager Application User Guide.
NOTE: Enabling the ExpressLane feature on a LUN, when the maximum number of LUNs are already enabled for the
feature, might result in an error. Use the /usr/sbin/lpfc/lpfc_clean_xlane_conf.sh script to clear any
unwanted entries and retry enabling the ExpressLane feature.
3.2 vPort Configuration
This section describes how to create, delete, and display vPorts. You can also configure the vPorts using the Emulex HBA
Manager application. For more information, refer to the Emulex HBA Manager Application User Guide.
3.2.1 vPort Configuration Prerequisites
Before configuring vPorts, consider the following points:
Ensure that you are using the latest firmware for vPort functionality. For the latest firmware, go to www.broadcom.com.
NOTE: Before performing a firmware update, driver installation is required. For more information on installing the driver,
see Chapter 2, Installing and Uninstalling.
Loop devices and NPIV are not supported on the same port simultaneously. If you are running a loop topology and you
create a vPort, the vPort link state is offline.
vPorts do not persist across system reboots.
3.2.2 Creating, Deleting, and Displaying vPorts
vPorts are created through sysfs entries that are presented in the physical port's sysfs directory. Scripts that create,
delete, and display vPorts are provided in the /usr/sbin/lpfc directory and are part of the Emulex HBA Manager
application kit.
When NPIV is enabled and vPorts are configured, it can take longer for the adapter to finish discovery in some cases
because each vPort must perform discovery independently. As more vPorts are configured, the amount of time that the driver
and adapter take to finish discovery of remote ports on the SAN increases. To compensate for this extended amount of time
taken during discovery, set the lpfc_devloss_tmo parameter to 60 seconds when NPIV is enabled.