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General description

CHARON-AXP supports emulation of DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI Fibre Channel adapter.

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  • Fabric virtualization mode (mapping to disk images and host/SAN physical disks). This is default mode.
  • Usage of "presentation mode" of external storage controllers to automatically configure KGPSA-CA disks correspondent to the LUNs provided by the external storages
  • Pass Through mode (using a specific CHARON PCI Pass Through driver to work through the EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter plugged into host)

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Loading KGPSA storage adapter

Syntax for loading KGPSA-CA storage adapter:

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Configuration parameters

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

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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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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 472350798 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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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

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
XThe number of sectors per track
YThe number of tracks per cylinder
Z

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 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"


Info

It is possiblle 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



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Mapping to host resources

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

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Fabric virtualization mode

In this mode KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter can be directly mapped to physical disks (both local and iSCSI) and disk images as shown in the following example:

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Usage of "presentation mode"

CHARON-AXP can utilize so called "presentation mode" of the storage controller it maps to.

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Pass Through mode

The CHARON PCI Pass Through mode allows connection between virtual DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter and physical EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter plugged into host’s PCI/PCI-X/PCIe slot.

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Installation of EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter driver

  1. Install the EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter (see below for a list of supported models) to some spare PCI/PCI-X/PCIe slot of the host system
  2. Boot a Windows operating system
  3. Install the EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter driver from the following directory "C:\Program Files\CHARON\Drivers\EMULEX_X.X.0.XXXXX" by choosing the "Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)" option and then selecting the "emulex_lp_ppt_amd64.inf" file.
  4. Direct Windows to use this custom driver instead of the default one:
    1. Type "gpedit.msc" in the "Search programs and files" field under "Start" menu, press "Enter"
    2. In the appearing applet choose: Administrative Templates -> System -> Device Installation -> Device Installation Restrictions -> Prevent Installation of Devices not described by other policy settings
    3. Change the default "Not configured" to "Disabled"; press "Ok" to apply, 

  5. Reboot the host

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Collecting the parameters for mapping

There are 2 ways of getting the required parametrs for mapping virtual KGPSA-CA to EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter plugged into host’s PCI/PCI-X/PCIe slot:

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(warning) Non-US-EN installations of Windows may present “Location:” string in local language, but "host_bus_location" parameter requires English notation, so the words “PCI”, “bus”, “device”, and “function” must be specified in English.

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Configuration of KGPSA-CA in pass through mode

FCMGR utility description

To configure KGPSA-CA adapter in pass through mode a special SRM console utility "FCMGR" is used (it has the same functionality as the "WWIDMGR" utility of the native HP Alpha hardware).

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P00>>>fc show devices
     UDID:110 WWID:01000010:6000-1fe1-000b-6bf0-0009-9081-1283-0081 (ev:none)
                                               via adapter     via fc_port         con
[0]                   pga0.0.0.5.1    5000-1fe1-000b-6bf1 yes (ev:none)
[1]                   pga0.0.0.5.1    5000-1fe1-000b-6bf4 yes (ev:none)
     UDID:108 WWID:01000010:6000-1fe1-000b-6bf0-0009-0440-4014-0039 (ev:none)
                                               via adapter     via fc_port         con
[12]                  pga0.0.0.5.1    5000-1fe1-000b-6bf1 yes (ev:none)
[13]                  pga0.0.0.5.1    5000-1fe1-000b-6bf4 yes (ev:none)

Configuration steps using FCMGR utility

Once the configuration steps described above are done, start the CHARON VM and wait for the P00>>> prompt.

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