SCSI Solutions White Paper - HP-UX

2.1.2.1 MSA30 Configuration/Deployment

If shared buses are not required, the choice between SB and DB will depend upon the

customer’s storage needs and other requirements. For example, a customer with small data

storage needs may decide to connect a single MSA30 DB to two hosts, giving each host access

to up to 7 disks. Each host can operate independently and not impact the other. On the other

hand, a customer with larger data storage needs may decide to connect a single host to the

MSA30 SB to give the host access to all 14 disks. In either case, additional data protection can

be achieved via SCSI RAID Controllers (see section 2.4.2) or software RAID products.

The MSA30 MI can be used to protect against any single storage component failure (cables,

HBAs, disks, etc.), and when used in conjunction with a multi-system HA solution (such as HP

Serviceguard) it can also be used to provide data availability across system failures. A common

MSA30 MI configuration which can provide many of these characteristics is a 2-host

configuration in which both hosts are connected to both MSA30 MI buses, as depicted below:

Mirroring of the drives across the two internal buses (using, for example, MirrorDisk/UX) makes

for an even more robust configuration, protecting against the failure of any drive without losing

access to the data. See Section 5 for additional information regarding the MSA30 MI in HA

configurations.

The MSA30 is also designed to be used as back-end storage behind the MSA1000 and

MSA1500 Fibre Channel arrays.

2.1.2.2 MSA30 Product Compatibility

The MSA30 provides a simple upgrade path from the StorageWorks 4300: simply replace the

I/O module on the back of the unit with the corresponding MSA30 I/O module. Moreover,

since the I/O module is warm-swappable, power to the unit can remain on during the upgrade,

but all I/O operations must be stopped during the upgrade to ensure no data is lost.

The MSA30 enclosures are supported on HP-UX 11.00, 11i v1, and 11i v2 across a range of

platforms and HBAs, including Smart Array RAID Controller cards. They are supported as a

boot or dump device in most configurations. For supported OS versions, platforms, and HBAs

go to www.hp.com/go/serverconnectivity and click on StorageWorks support matrices. Note

that the Smart Array RAID Controller cards are only supported with the SB and DB products.

For supported drives and enclosure components, see the MSA30 Specifications.

The MSA30 MI is designed to be a replacement for the recently discontinued DS2300.

For additional MSA30 product information, go to www.hp.com/go/msa30.

Host 1

SCSI HBA

Port 1A

SCSI HBA

Port 1B

Host 2

SCSI HBA

Port 2A

SCSI HBA

Port 2B

MSA30 MI

Port