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Note

In AlphaStation 400 configuration use the following syntax for KGPSA-CA storage adapter loading:

load KGPSA FGA irq_bus = isa

The adapter instance name ("FGA" in the example above) is used then for parametrization, for example:

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Configuration parameters

The KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter emulation has the following configuration parameters:

Anchor
PresMode
PresMode
storage_controller_path_id

Parameterstorage_controller_path_id 
TypeText String
Value

Instructs the CHARON VM to create a set of virtual FC devices and connect to the virtual system through the virtual KGPSA FC Adapter.

(info) In this mode WWID and UDID values are taken from the storage controller directly. Note that some storage controllers may not support aquiring UDID, in this case this way of mapping cannot be used in case of OpenVMS (Tru64 Unix is Ok)!

Syntax:

load KGPSA <controller name> storage_controller_path_id = <Storage controller path ID>

where the "Storage controller path ID" parameter is a storage (for example SAN) controller path ID. This ID can be obtained from the "Host Device Check" utility ("Storage Controllers" section).

Once specified, all the disks attached to the storage are automatically mapped as disk units to CHARON VM.

Example:

load KGPSA FGA storage_controller_path_id = 5008-05F3-0005-2950-5008-05F3-0005-2951

It is also possible to use wildcards for specifying the ID number:

Example:

load KGPSA FGA storage_controller_path_id = 5008-05F3-0005-2950-*-05F3-0005-*

In this case CHARON will collect the LUNs from all the matching paths. 

This syntax works disregarding whether Windows MPIO is active or not. If it is active, CHARON VM uses "active" path (because it works through Windows), if Windows MPIO is OFF, CHARON VM selects the first matching path (and warns you in the LOG file).

(info) Note that LUNs obtained by usage of "storage_controller_path_id" parameter is not re-enumerated on reboot, so this mode is possible to use in case of shared disks clusters.


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Anchor
PPT
PPT
host_bus_location

Parameterhost_bus_location
TypeText String
Value

Establish connection between virtual DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter and physical EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter (pass through mode)

Syntax:

load KGPSA <controller name> host_bus_location="PCI bus X, device Y, function Z"

where X, Y, and Z describe location of physical EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter in the host computer (see Pass Through mode for details).

Example:

load KGPSA FGA host_bus_location="PCI bus 3, device 1, function 0"

wwid

Parameter

wwid[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

TypeText String
Value

Sets WWID for emulated KGPSA adapter unit in case if the WWID can not be obtained directly from the device CHARON VM is mapped to.

For example in case of disk images or local physical drives CHARON VM cannot get its WWID from the the host system, so it is automaticaly introduce some generated WWID. In case if this WWID is not acceptable it can be replaced with the custom one using the "wwid" parameter.

Syntax:

set <controller name> wwid[unit-number]="XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX"

Example:

set FGA wwid[2]="6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001"


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Anchor
Containers
Containers
container

Parameter

container[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

TypeText String
Value

Possible values of the parameter are strings in one of the following forms:

  • Physical disk
    • "\\.\PhysicalDrive<X>", where X is 0, 1, … 
      (warning) Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON VM by mistake. 
      These disks must not be formatted by the host OS. 
      (info) In this mode WWID is generated by CHARON and UDID is defined by the index of the "container" parameter. 
      Example:
      set FGA container[0]=”\\.\PhysicalDrive1"

      Note

      In case "\\.\PhysicalDrive<N>" points to some external iSCSI or FC disk note that the disks re-enumeration may appear on CHARON host reboot, for example an external disk originally referenced as "\\.\PhysicalDrive3" may become "\\.\PhysicalDrive1" etc. Especially it is important in shared disks cluster configurations!

       So it is stricty recommended to use "Mapping by WWID" / "Mapping iSCSI disks" ways of mapping in these situations (see below). The mapping by using "storage_controller_path_id" (see above) is acceptable as well, since it is not re-enumerating LUNs on each re-boot or CHARON VM restart.

      .

  • Physical disk by its WWID
    • "\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID =XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)"
      (warning) Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON VM by mistake.
      These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.
      DevID addresses the target physical disk by its WWID (hexadecimal 128-bit identifier assigned to the disk drive by its manufacturer/originator).
      (info) In this mode WWID is generated by CHARON VM and UDID is defined by the index of the "container" parameter.
      Example:

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      set FGA container[100]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID= 6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001)"


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      The WWID values can be obtained from "Host Device Check" utility ("All drives" section).


      Note

      If the "Host Device Check" utility does not display any WWID, this means the target disk does not have one. Use the "\\.\PhysicalDrive<N>" mapping in this case.


  • iSCSI disks
    • "\\.\PhysicalDrive(iSCSITarget = <iSCSI target>, LUN = <LUN number>)"
      iSCSITarget addresses the disk by its iSCSI target name. LUN specifies LUN on connected iSCSI disk.
      (info) In this mode WWID is generated by CHARON VM and UDID is defined by the index of the "container" parameter.
      Example:

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      set FGA container[200]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(iSCSITarget= iqn.2008-04:iSCSI.charon-target-test1, LUN= 1)"

      .

  • File representing a physical disk of the HP Alpha system (disk image)
    • [<drive>":\"<path-name>"\"]<file-name>[".vdisk"]

      These files can be created from scratch with "MkDisk" utility. Data and OS disks backups are transferred from the original system via tapes or network and restored into these container files. 

      Mapping may also include the full path (recommended), for example: "C:\My disks\my_boot_disk.vdisk"
      Example:
      set FGA container[401]="my_dka401.vdisk"


      Warning

      Using compressed folders to store virtual disks and tapes is not supported

      .

(info) This parameter is initially not set, thus creating NO storage elements on the controller..

media_type

Parameter

media_type[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

TypeText String
Value

Instructs CHARON VM to use the supplied value as the PRODUCT field in the FC INQUIRY data returned to a software running on virtual HP Alpha system in response to FC INQUIRY command.

If not specified, CHARON VM attempts to guess the FC INQUIRY data based on virtual FC device type and underlying container (which is specified in the corresponding container configuration parameter).

Initially is not specified.

Example:
set FGA media_type[0]="HSZ70"


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removable

Parameter

removable[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

TypeBoolean
Value

When set to "true", the removable configuration parameter instructs CHARON VM to report the corresponding virtual FC device as removable.

By default the removable configuration parameter is set to "false".

Example:
set FGA removable[400]=true

geometry

The
  • X corresponds to the number of sectors per track
  • Y
The
  • corresponds to the number of tracks per cylinder
  • Z
The
  • corresponds to the number of cylinders on the unit.
  • If omitted, Z is calculated based on X, Y and the total number of sectors on the unit that reflects the size of the disk storage element.
  • This is an optional parameter.
  • B
The
  • corresponds to the total size of the disk (in blocks) reported to the guest OS.
  • If omitted it is calculated automatically.
  • This is an optional parameter.

If this parameter is not set, CHARON VM will configure the geometry based on the most probable disk type.

Initially not set.

Example:

set FGA geometry[201] = "255/255"


Parameter

geometry [N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

TypeText String
Value

This formatted string value specifies the explicit geometry of the disk storage element.

The string format is <X>”/”<Y>[“/”<Z>][“/”<B>]  or <X>”,”<Y>[“,”<Z>][“,”<B>] where:

ParameterDescription
X
Info

It is possiblle possible to specify each parameter independently of another one. The following syntax is used for that:

set FGA geometry[300]="*,*,*,16777210"



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use_io_file_buffering

Parameter

use_io_file_buffering[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

TypeText String
Value

Instructs CHARON VM to enable host operating system I/O cache on reading/writing operations.

The following values are possible:

  • "true" or "write-back" - the "write back" caching mode is used
  • "write-through" - the "write through" caching mode is used

  • "false" - caching is switched off

(info) Note this caching has a significant effect only in case of mapping to disk containers, not physical drives. 

When enabled, host operating system I/O cache may significantly improve I/O performance of the virtual system. At the same time maintaining I/O cache requires additional host resources (CPU and memory) which may negatively affect overall performance of the virtual system.

Initially is set to "false".

Example:

set FGA use_io_file_buffering[300]=true


io_queue_depth

Parameter

io_queue_depth[N]

N is "XXYY" number, where:

  • XX - SCSI ID (0..15)
  • YY - LUN (00..07)
TypeNumeric
Value

Specifies KZPBA I/O requests (read or write) for a given unit in a range 2..128

Setting this parameter enables KZPBA instance to run up-to the specifiied numbers of I/O requests (read or write) for unit N in parallel, thus improving the performance.

The default value set by controller is optimal for most of the cases. It may be needed to enlarge this number if guest OS I/O queue for a certain unit contains too much pending entries. In this case the value should be equal to an average size of the queue, collected statistically.

Please do not set this parameter without clear understanding the purpose.

By default parallel execution of I/O requests is disabled.

Example:

set PKA io_queue_depth[603]=4


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min_n_of_threads

Parameter

min_n_of_threads

TypeNumeric
Value

Instructs KZPBA I/O to reserve a given number of working threads in a range 1..64, thus improving the performance.

All units of KZPBA instance share the I/O threads.

The default value is equal to number of units plus 2.

For optimization it is possible to set this parameter to sum of the "io_queue_depth" parameters for each unit plus 2. This assumption seems optimal for most of the cases.

Please do not set this parameter without clear understanding the purpose.

Example:

set PKA min_n_of_threads=16


When a disk image connected to an emulated KGPSA-CA controller is dismounted by OpenVMS, it is disconnected from CHARON VM and can be manipulated. It can be replaced with a different disk image if it keeps the same name. This capability may be useful when designing back-up and restore procedures. When copying CHARON disk images while CHARON VM is running, please take care to minimize the risk of overloading a heavily loaded CHARON host system. For example, using a sequential series of simple ftp binary copies is less resource intensive and thus less disruptive than multiple, simultaneous copies.

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There are 3 modes of KGPSA-CA mapping to system resources:

ModeDescriptionProsCons

Fabric virtualization mode

Virtual KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter is mapped to physical disks (both local, FC and iSCSI) and disk images

(info) This is default mode, suitable for most cases

  • High I/O performance using modern local SSD disks.
  • Requires CHARON VM reconfiguration and restart on any change to the mapped disk images and physical drives
  • Disk images cannot be used in case of Tru64 cluster, but acceptable for OpenVMS cluster.
"Presentation" mode

CHARON VM automatically creates/removes a set of virtual FC devices on a virtual KGPSA-CA FC adapter correspondent to available external SAN LUNs

(info) This mode is recommended in case of working with SAN that may change LUN configuration - so CHARON VM will reflect it on-fly w/o reconfiguration and restarting.

  • No reconfiguration and restart of CHARON VM is needed on change to the virtual FC drives provided as LUNs by the connected SAN.
  • Effectively any SAN FC system could be used, that means newer, faster, larger, FC HBA controllers and device drivers supported by newer, faster host server platforms and operating systems - it offers significant performance capabilities and performance improvements.
  • Target configurations are restricted to the SAN models capable to work with HW Alphas (for example aquiring UDID must be supported in case of OpenVMS).
    This restriction comes from the fact that different SAN controllers could have different level of SCSI-3 protocol support, and if apparently some individual SAN model does not properly support complete set of SCSI-3 commands used by OpenVMS & Tru64  KGPSA-CA drivers, then with high probability such SAN Controller will not be able to work with CHARON-AXP in "presentation" (as well as in Pass Through) Mode.

Pass Through mode

This mode allows connection between virtual KGPSA-CA FC adapter and physical EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter plugged into host’s PCI/PCI-X/PCIe slot

(info) This mode is recommended for cluster setups that include HW Alphas

  • High performance
  • Support of shared disks and cluster configuration that includes HW Alphas
  • Cannot be used in VMware environment
  • Obsolete PCI-X cards are not available anymore, HBA list is restricted to several EMULEX HBA models only. No way to use HBA from other vendors.
  • Target configurations are restricted to SAN models capable to work with HW Alphas.
  • As EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapters have been never used on Alphas, formally there is a probability that some compatibility problems may be detected.


Note

All the described modes can be used in case of a cluster including HW Alphas and shared SAN, but pay attention that all the disks must look absolutely the same to the operating systems on all the cluster nodes, including CHARON: same WWID, same UDID (in case of OpenVMS), same size, same geometry etc.

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The "host_bus_location" parameter addresses the host EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter in the following way:

Parameters
Description
"PCI bus X"

PCI bus number of the host EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter

"device Y"PCI bus device number of the host EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter
"function Z"The "function" parameter of the the host EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter

The following is a list of EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapters supported by CHARON PCI Pass Through driver and suitable for emulation of KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter in CHARON PCI Pass Through mode:

Supported
Not Supported
Not tested

LP8000
LP9000
LP9002
LP9802
LP10000
LP10000DC
LP10000-S
LPX1000
LP11002
LPe11002 (FC2242SR, A8003A)
LPe1105
LPe12002 (AJ762B)

LPe1150 (FC2142SR, A8002A)LPe11000

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It provides the following functionality:

CommandDescription

fc rescan {/verbose} 

Scans connected SAN using FC adapters, discovers FC ports, storage controllers, logical units and then builds volatile FC database.

The "/verbose" qualifier enables FC communication trace on console (for diagnostic and troubleshooting).

fc show {adapter | port | device} 

Displays corresponding part of volatile FC database.

fc set {boot | dump} udid <X> 

Fills the environment variables wwid0..wwid3 and n1..n4 to identify path(s) to logical unit with the specified UDID.

These variables are later used by "INIT" to create device database entries and by OpenVMS/Tru64 to get access to boot and dump disks.

This command does NOT make any change to other environment variables.

fc set {boot | dump} wwid <X>

Fills the environment variables wwid0..wwid3 and n1..n4 to identify path(s) to logical unit with the specified WWID. 

These variables are later used by "INIT" to create device database entries and by OpenVMS/Tru64 to get access to boot and dump disks.

This command does NOT make any change to other environment variables.

This parameter is useful if UDID is absent.

Info

Only right part of the displayed WWID is used for specification, for example:

P00>>>fc res
polling for units on kgpsa0, slot 2, bus 0, hose 0 ...
    pga0.0.0.2.0                 PGA0          F/W Rev 2.72A2
                                               WWN 1000-0000-0263-0040
           fabric                              WWN 2003-0060-0263-0040
                directory                      WWN 20fc-0060-0263-0040
                port 020100                    CED 8GSH 0 F88V
                                               WWN 5000-1fe0-0000-0bf1
                  lun 0000000000000000         DEC HSG80CCL V88F
             UDID:-1                 WWID:01000010:6000-1fe0-0000-0bf0-3030-3030-373f-3f3f
                  lun 0000000000000100         COMPAQ RZ1ED 0000
             UDID:-1                 WWID:01000010:6000-1fe0-0000-0bf0-3030-3030-3030-3030
P00>>>fc set boot wwid 6000-1fe0-0000-0bf0-3030-3030-3030-3030


fc clear

Clears environment variables wwid0..wwid3 and n1..n4, which automatically disable (but do NOT delete) device database entries representing FC attached devices.

This command does NOT affect volatile FC database.

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