HP Matrix Operating Environment Automated Storage Provisioning: "Static"SAN volume automation via multi-initiator NPIV

Insight Orchestration – Storage Automation via NPIV

Following this initialization process, a set of one or more FDISC operations may be used to acquire

additional N_Port IDs. Each N_Port ID may then also be granted access to additional storage

resources within the SAN. The fabric zoning configuration and the LUN security policy are

maintained at the disk array in terms of the server’s HBA WWN(s). The FC fabric name service

maintains a mapping between the server’s HBA WWNs(s) and the N_Port ID(s) which have been

assigned.

HP VirtualConnect blades are capable of supporting the following:

HBA Type

Initiator WWN Limit per physical port

4Gb Mezzanine

8Gb Mezzanine

For the use case of a two-port HBA and the three storage categories, a physical server would

consume a total 6 WWNs to access storage resources of each type. The 6 WWNs taken together as

an aggregate represent the server’s identity on the SAN. Because the storage resources are

partitioned out to different pairs of WWNs, the Server administrator is able to control access to the

storage resources by choosing when to apply a particular pair of WWNs to the server. This

produces the effect of LUN masking at the server and can be accomplished independent of any other

changes in the SAN. In addition, it is a configuration that may be applied while the server is in a

bare-metal state and can be leveraged by the HPIO automation software to ensure that only the boot

disk is visible to the server during the OS installation.

Following the OS installation, the server can be configured by HPIO for access to its private data

storage and/or shared data storage by assigning the required WWNs to the server. This change

also may be performed exclusively by the Server administrator without requiring any other changes to

the SAN. The SAN fabric remains stable as the server is given the necessary “keys” to access its

additional storage resources. Later, if the server requires access to additional storage resources, this

may be accomplished either by adding additional “disks” to one of the server’s existing storage pool

entries or by assigning the server a completely new storage pool entry. Either approach will work.

Adding additional “disks” is typically preferred in order to minimize the number of server WWNs that

are consumed.

Using Server Side NPIV with HPIO

Let’s examine several basic use cases to illustrate how server side NPIV can be used with HPIO to fully

automate the physical server provisioning process. As a first step, we must create one or more

storage pool entries.