Hello,
I have two systems that are being prepared to be SAN attached ..
can anyone tell me any specific checks I should perform prior to the cards being installed...
I am aware of firmware / OS level and relevant drivers, is there anything else?
thanks
Chris.
What kind of systems are you putting these cards in? What type of storage device are you using? There may be some specific software necessary for your disks.
Normally there is no issue with the install. Where things can get exciting is in the zoning and allocation of resources on the SAN device.
Good luck.
Shawn
ok thanks for the advise,
not sure of the cards being installed as this is being performed by an IBM engineer and dealt with by another team however I am responsible for powering up the system and configuring the disk ...
all should be ok as our hardware / software / installls etc are all standardised.
chris.
ok so nobody either knows or doesnt want to help .....
I found the answer anyway
Thanks
Chris.
the answer ....
ensure your system is at the correct OS level
determine mpio or datapath devices
SAN configuration and hardware to be determined.
install drivers
shut down the box
install the card
cable up
turn server on
configure san
run cfgmgr
in a nutshell .....
unless someone else has any other tips ....
dear friend,
can u send the SAN configuration .......................
On most new systems
Install the drivers ( mostly it is there if that is an IBM supplied hardware).
Install the HBA ( hot plug ) , no need to shutdown the box.
cfgmgr
Plug in the Fibre cables from the HBAs to the SAN.
Zone them
Make sure the Storage system can see the HBAs (HBA logged into the fabric).
Mask/Map the required SAN devices to the HBAs.
Install MP device driver ( may need a reboot if not already installed )
Run cfgmgr ..
Wouldn't the MPIO software come with AIX5.3?
Most storage will work with native AIX MPIO drivers but even IBM SAN storage is likely to benefit from it's own device driver like IBM's sdd or sddpcm and it's own host attachment script to correctly populate the ODM with the device definitions required by the driver, other storage vendors will also supply a host attachment script and driver.