Connecting Violin Memory Arrays to IBM AIX and PowerVM
9 www.vmem.com
4 Virtual IO (VIO Partitions)
IBM PowerVM Supports N Port Virtualization (NPIV) with 8 GB host bus adapters. NPIV allows us to virtualize
a port on a Fibre Channel switch. An NPIV-capable FC HBA can have multiple N_Ports, each with a unique
virtual WWPN. NPIV with the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) adapter sharing capabilities allow a physical FC HBA to
be shared across multiple guest LPARs .The PowerVM implementation of NPIV enables POWER logical
partitions (LPARs) to have virtual FC HBAs, each with a unique worldwide port name (WWPN). Each virtual
Fibre Channel HBA has a unique SAN identity similar to that of a dedicated physical HBA.
It should be noted that NPIV attribute is enabled on the Switch port connected to VIO Partition on the host side
and not on the ports connected to Violin Targets.
4.1 Boot Support for Violin LUNS in PowerVM Environment
Logical partitions that connect to a VIO Partition do not have physical boot disks. Instead, they boot directly off
a Violin LUN, which needs to be mapped during LPAR configuration.
Both vSCSI and NPIV LUNS are supported for boot support.
• It is recommended to create a separate “initiator group” for boot devices when configuring Storage.
• It is required to install the Violin MPIO Driver in the VIO Partition if configuring vSCSI LUNS (for boot).The
MPIO driver ensures that there is proper multi-path support for boot devices.
• If you have a NPIV only configuration then it is not required to install the driver in the VIO partition.
• If you do need to install the Violin MPIO Driver in a VIO Partition, then please ensure that the Partition sees
only “one and only” path for during driver install. IF the Driver detects multiple paths, the install will fail. After
the driver installation is complete, one can enabled multiple paths for boot LUNS
• There are a few HBA parameters required to be set for optimal operation. These parameters are covered in
later sections of this report.
• If you are planning to upgrade AIX version on a partition when it is booting off a Violin LUN which uses NPIV,
please follow the following steps to ensure a smooth upgrade: ( Below steps are not required for vSCSI boot)
1. Stop application, umount file-systems, vary off volume groups.
2. Uninstall the AIX Multipath driver package for Violin
3. Disconnect all but one SAN path to the Partition
4. Reboot the Partition – it will still boot from the SAN with single path into AIX
5. Upgrade to newer AIX version and apply patches.
6. Then install the Violin MPIO driver package for appropriate version for AIX
7. Reboot the Partition and verify that multiple paths are discovered by MPIO for boot and data
LUNS.
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