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In AlphaStation 400 configuration use the following syntax for KGPSA-CA storage adapter loading:
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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:
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Parameter | storage_controller_path_id |
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Type | Text 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. 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:
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:
It is also possible to use wildcards for specifying the ID number: Example:
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). 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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Parameter | host_bus_location |
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Type | Text 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:
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:
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wwid
Parameter | wwid[N] N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units) |
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Type | Text 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:
Example:
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Parameter | container[N] N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Type | Text String | |||||||||||||||||||||
Value | Possible values of the parameter are strings in one of the following forms:
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) |
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Type | Text 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: |
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removable
Parameter | removable[N] N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units) |
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Type | Boolean |
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: |
geometry
Parameter | geometry [N] N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units) | |||||
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Type | Text 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: Parameter | Description | X | The
If this parameter is not set, CHARON VM will configure the geometry based on the most probable disk type. Initially not set. Example:
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use_io_file_buffering
Parameter | use_io_file_buffering[N] N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units) |
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Type | Text String |
Value | Instructs CHARON VM to enable host operating system I/O cache on reading/writing operations. The following values are possible:
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:
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io_queue_depth
Parameter | io_queue_depth[N] N is "XXYY" number, where:
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Type | Numeric |
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:
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min_n_of_threads
Parameter | min_n_of_threads |
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Type | Numeric |
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:
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There are 3 modes of KGPSA-CA mapping to system resources:
Mode | Description | Pros | Cons |
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Virtual KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter is mapped to physical disks (both local, FC and iSCSI) and disk images This is default mode, suitable for most cases |
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"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 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. |
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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 This mode is recommended for cluster setups that include HW Alphas |
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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 |
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"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 |
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LP8000 | LPe1150 (FC2142SR, A8002A) | LPe11000 |
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It provides the following functionality:
Command | Description | ||
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| 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). | ||
| Displays corresponding part of volatile FC database. | ||
| 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.
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| 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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