HP-UX vPars 6.0 N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) - A brief overview

NPIV dependencies and prerequisites

Software dependencies

NPIV is supported on HP-UX Virtual Partitions 6.0, on the HP-UX 11i v3 September 2011 update release or later.

Note:

Please read the release notes for HP-UX vPars 6.0 before configuring NPIV.

Hardware dependencies

This functionality requires a hardware I/O stack which explicitly supports NPIV, from the HBAs, through the

interconnect modules and SAN fabric and on to the individual Fibre Channel devices. The supported HBAs include,

but may not be limited to:

• QLogic QMH2562 8Gb FB HBA for HP BladeSystem C-Class (451871-B21)

• HP Single-Port 8Gb PCIe Fibre Channel HBA (AH400A)

• HP Dual-Port 8Gb PCIe Fibre Channel HBA (AH401A)

Supported I/O Interconnect Modules include but may not be limited to:

• HP BLc Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-Port Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem (466482-B21)

• HP BLc Virtual Connect 8Gb 20-Port Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem (572018-B21)

• HP BLc 4Gb Virtual Connect Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem (409513-B22)

All servers that support vPars 6.0 also support NPIV. These currently include:

• BL860c i2

• BL870c i2

• BL890c i2

For the SAN fabric, refer to your vendor’s documentation to determine support. HP supports NPIV with HP 4 GB and

8 GB SAN switches.

The information provided here represents what was verified at the time of writing. For updated information regarding

supported hardware, see the HP Virtual Partitions website at www.hp.com/go/vPars

and the latest Release Notes, or

contact HP Support.

Verifying that the VSP can support NPIV

Before creating a vHBA, it is recommended that the administrator check the physical HBAs on the system to verify that

they support NPIV. The fcmsutil command can do this check. Run this command on a VSP Fibre Channel HBA:

/opt/fcms/bin/fcmsutil/dev/fcdX

where X is the instance number of the Fibre Channel HBA and can be obtained from the “ioscan –kfnC fc” command

on the VSP:

# ioscan -kfnC fc

Class I H/W Path Driver S/W State H/W Type Description

===== === ======== ====== ========= ======== =================================

fc 0 0/2/0/0/0/0 fcd CLAIMED INTERFACE HP AH401A 8Gb Dual Port PCIe

Fibre Channel Adapter (FC Port 1)

/dev/fcd0

fc 1 0/2/0/0/0/1 fcd CLAIMED INTERFACE HP AH401A 8Gb Dual Port PCIe

Fibre Channel Adapter (FC Port 2)

/dev/fcd1