HP StorageWorks Booting Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems from a Storage Area Network Application Notes

NOTE:
The memory paging system requires fast access to the pagefile.sys file. In some cases,
in SAN environments with heavy I/O loads, the access request for moving information to or
from the paging file may be delayed. This can cause the operating system to halt, requiring
a
reboot to recover. Microsoft recommends that if paging errors occur, page files should
be relocated to di s ks that are built into the server using its internal data paths. See the
following Microsoft article for additional recommendations related to booting from a SAN:
h
ttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q305547.
• For Windows Server 2003, a crash dump file will notbegenerated if, atthe time of asystem crash,
the
active path to the system drive is different from the active path established when the system was
turned on. To ensure thatacrashdumpiscreated, restore the paththatwas the activepathatboot
time
as soon as possible after the failure, and make it the active path. For detailed information,
see
the Crash Dump File Creation section in h
ttp://download.microsoft.com/download/f/9/7/
f9775acc-baa6-45cc-9dec-b82983705620/Boot%20 from%20SAN%20in%20Windows.doc.
Clustered server restrictions
This section describes clustered server restrictions for SCSIPORT and Storport miniport drivers.
SCSIPORT miniport driver restrictions
The following SCSIPORT miniport driver restrictions apply:
• Microsoft requires that Microsoft Cluster Ser vers (MSCS) keep boot disks and shared
storage paths on separate data paths. See the article on the Microsoft web site
h
ttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305547.
• These configurations require a minimum of four HBAs.
Storport miniport driver restrictions
The following Storport miniport driver restrictions apply:
• For Storport miniport driver restrictions, see the following Microsoft ar ticles:
• To properly set up MSCS, see “Cluster is formed by using a local quorum
resource after a cluster setup failure in Windows Server 2003,” available on
h
ttp://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=888160.
• For boot from SAN and MSCS configurations on Windows Server 2003 systems, see “The
updated Storport storage driver, version 5.2.3790.2494, is available for Windows Server
2003,” available on h
ttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/903081 and“Howtoadd aregistry
value to a Windows Server 2003-based computer that you start from a SAN so that the
startup disk, the pa gefile disks, and the cluster disks that are all on the same SAN fabric,”
available on h
ttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/886569/en-us.
• To avoid improper modification of the registry, use the Boot from SAN Cluster Registry Update
utility to add the ManageDisksOnSystemBuses key. Download the utility (BFSCLRegUp.exe)
from h
ttp://h18006.www1.hp.com/storage/saninfrastructure.html.
• A minimum of two HBA ports per host is required for any High Availability (HA) configurations.
Standalone server restrictions
In a standalone server environment, an HBA port can share boot and data paths.
4