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General description

CHARON-AXP supports PCI I/O bypass controller for accessing to disk images and host physical disks. In this mode a virtual disk controller type is defined automatically by its name.

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. PCI I/O bypass controller requires a specific driver to be installed.

Warning
PCI I/O bypass controller support is available only for OpenVMS guest operating system.

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Prerequisites

This release supports VMS version V6.2-1H3 and higher. Bypass disks can not be used as a boot device in V6.2-1H3, higher versions do not have this restriction.

Make sure that the latest Bypass controller kit has been installed, especially for VMS versions before V7.3-2.

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Installation

Open your VM configuration and attach the virtual disk "ovms_tool.vdisk" located by default in the "C:\Program Files\CHARON\Virtual Disk Images\OpenVMS tools package" directory:
set PKA container[400] = "C:\Program Files\CHARON\Virtual Disk Images\OpenVMS tools package\ovms_tools.vdisk"
Run VM, boot guest OpenVMS operating system.

Use the POLYCENTER Software Installation (PCSI) utility to install the Bypass Driver. The following example demonstrates the "PCSI PRODUCT INSTALL" command to execute and the expected output (the example assumes the utilities virtual disk image is attached as DKA400:):

$ PRODUCT INSTALL CHARON_DISK/SOURCE=DKA400:[BYPASS]
%PCSI-I-CANNOTVAL, cannot validate DKA400:[BYPASS]SRI-AXPVMS-CHARON_DISK-V0104--1.PCSI;1
-PCSI-I-NOTSIGNED, product kit is not signed and therefore has no manifest file

The following product has been selected:
SRI AXPVMS CHARON_DISK V1.4 Layered Product

Do you want to continue? [YES] YES

Configuration phase starting ...

You will be asked to choose options, if any, for each selected product and for any products that may be installed to satisfy software dependency requirements.

SRI AXPVMS CHARON_DISK V1.4: Charon disk driver V1.4 for OpenVMS Alpha.

    Copyright (C) 1976, 2009 Software Resources International

    CHARON_DISK was produced by Software Resources International

* This product does not have any configuration options.

Execution phase starting ...

The following product will be installed to destination:
    SRI AXPVMS CHARON_DISK V1.4 DISK$TARDISSYSTEM:[VMS$COMMON.]

Portion done: 0%...10%...20%...80%...100%

The following product has been installed:
    SRI AXPVMS CHARON_DISK V1.4 Layered Product

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Loading PCI I/O bypass controller

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where x is selected according to VMS naming scheme, i.e. A stands for the first controller of given type, B - for the second, etc.

Example:

load pci_io_bypass DIA

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Note

In AlphaStation 400 configuration use the following syntax for PCI I/O bypass storage loading:

load pci_io_bypass DIA irq_bus = isa

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

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By default I/O Bypass controller uses first available PCI slot corresponded to the <x> parameter (see above). If instead some particular slot is needed, refer to this section for details of specific placement of PCI peripherals on CHARON Virtual Machine (VM) PCI bus (note that "irq_bus" and "irq" parameters are ignored for I/O Bypass controller). In this case the <x> will be changed automatically according to custom position of I/O Bypass controller on PCI bus.

I/O Bypass controller is is implemented for OpenVMS only.

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Configuration parameters

The I/O Bypass controller has the following configuration parameters:

container

Parameter

container[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 64 units)

Type Text string

Value

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

Physical disk
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive<X>", where X is 0, 1, …
  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.
  Example:
  set DIA container[0]="\\.\PhysicalDrive1"
  .
Physical disk by its WWID
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID=XXX-...-XXXX)"
  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).
  Example:
  
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  class small
  set DIA container[100]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID=6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001)"
  
  .
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.
  Example:
  
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  class small
  set DIA container[200]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget=iqn.2008-04:iscsi.charon-target-test1, LUN

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.

dddSCSI disk unknown to Windows for direct mapping

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Parameter	Description
N	A logical number assigned by host operating system (Microsoft Windows) to logical or host’s physical storage resource such as physical SCSI HBA
X	An internal SCSI bus number (usually 0) on host’s physical SCSI HBA
Y	A SCSI ID of physical SCSI target device attached to host’s physical SCSI HBA
Z	A logical unit number inside physical SCSI target device attached to host’s physical SCSI HBA

Example:

...

- =

...

- 1

...

.

...

- )

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Example:

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- "
  
  .

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 DIA container[401]="tru64-v51-system.vdisk"
  
  Warning
  Using compressed folders to store virtual disks and tapes is not supported
  .

Other type of drive, for example magneto-optical drive
- "\\.\<N>:"
  Example:
  set DIA container[300]="\\.\Z:"
  
  Warning
  Using compressed folders to store virtual disks and tapes is not supported
  .

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

removable

Parameter

removable[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 64 units)

Type

Boolean

Value

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

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disk as removable.

Note to set this parameter to "true" if this disk storage element is:

Mapped to a host removable device
Mapped to a disk

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image located on a host removable device
Mapped to a disk

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image that has to be renamed/moved/deleted right after dismounting it in the guest OS

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

Example:

set DIA removable[400]=true

geometry

The total size of the disk

is ”*/*/*/<B>" or ”*,*,*<B>" where B is 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.

Parameter	Description
Parameter	geometry [N] N is "XXYY" number, where XX = SCSI ID ( 0..15) and YY - LUN (00..0732766 (no more than 64 units)
Type	Text String
Value	This formatted string value specifies the explicit geometry of the disk storage element. This parameter is not applicable to tape storage elements. The string format is <X>”/”<Y>[“/”<Z>][“/”<B>] or <X>”,”<Y>[“,”<Z>][“,”<B>] where:
X	The number of sectors per track
Y	The 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

Info

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

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

The syntax described above is applicable only to disk storage elements. If the container is a tape image, the following format is used instead:

Syntax:

"<image-size>[, <early-warning-zone-size>]"

where:

Parameter

Description

image-size

The tape size in MB

early-warning-zone-size

The size (in KB) of the space left on the tape when a warning to the OS is issued.

If omitted, 64K is assumed.

Example:

set PKA geometry[603] = "255/255"

use_io_file_buffering

Parameter

use_io_file_buffering[N]

N is "XXYY" number, where XX = SCSI ID ( 0..15) and YY = LUN (00..0732766 (no more than 64 units)

Type Text 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

Note that this caching has a significant effect only in case of mapping to disk and tape 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 PKA DIA use_io_file_buffering[603]=true

When a tape or disk image connected to an emulated KZPBA controller is an I/O Bypass 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-AXP 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.

Versions Compared

Old Version 7

New Version Current

Key

General description

Prerequisites

Installation

Loading PCI I/O bypass controller

Configuration parameters

container

removable

geometry

use_io_file_buffering

Deinstallation