| Q1. |
Will the HP StorageWorks Multi-Protocol Router Blade work with the existing Fabric OS versions in my current fabrics? |
| A1. |
Yes, the HP MP Router Blade is fully compatible with installed based of HP StorageWorks B-series switches and directors. Most customers will not need to upgrade the Fabric OS version on the installed switches. Customers who have not upgraded Fabric OS on their installed switches for more than two years might need to migrate to a later version. Consult the HP SAN Design Guide for further details at:
http://www.hp.com/go/SANDesignGuide. |
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| Q2. |
How large can I grow my storage network with these new products? |
| A2. |
HP and its partners, continues to test and support ever-increasing SAN sizes via a larger number of ports in a single fabric, and fabrics connected via the Routers. At initial release, HP will support edge fabrics up to 1280 ports and backbone fabrics up to 256 devices. These fabrics are tested with actual devices in HP and partner scalability labs.
The first release of the HP MP Router Blade enables connectivity between multiple fabrics with a maximum of 16 edge fabrics connected for device sharing. The supported limit of devices in a MetaSAN is 5000. The practical limit on the number of devices is measured for each edge fabric. For example, an edge fabric with 1000 actual devices and a practical limit of 1280 devices can share approximately 300 additional devices using Logical SANs (LSANs). An advantage of hierarchical networking is that even modest scalability at each level amounts to very large scalability and 1280 devices interconnected. |
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| Q3. |
What is Fibre Channel routing SAN Services? |
| A3. |
One of the basic requirements for today’s organizations is the need to create Fibre Channel SANs that can grow in a scalable, cost-effective manner. For example, organizations with multiple SAN islands would like to connect them into a more unified SAN environment. Unfortunately, many organizations have not attempted to merge their SAN islands for fear that the administrative workload, risk, and expense would not justify the benefit of enhanced connectivity. The HP MPR Blade FC routing SAN Services enable devices located on separate SAN fabrics to communicate without the need to merge the fabrics into a single large SAN environment. By using this capability, organizations can interconnect devices without having to redesign and reconfigure their entire environment, thereby eliminating the potential risks and costs of downtime. |
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| Q4. |
What are Logical SANs (LSANs)? |
| A4. |
LSANs are essentially zones that span fabrics. When devices on different fabrics are allowed to communicate, the resulting connectivity group is known as a Logical SAN (LSAN). LSANs enable selective resource sharing across multiple SANs by leveraging current zoning tools and methodologies. In addition to optimizing resource utilization, this approach helps improve SAN deployment by:
Minimizing the risk and complexity of large fabrics.
Right-sizing SANs based on application and business requirements.
Simplifying management and fault isolation
Protecting and extending current technology investments since LSANs require no changes to existing SAN switches or attached edge devices, and they leverage existing zoning tools. |
| Q5. |
What are some use cases for FC routing Services? |
| A5. |
There are several use cases, including:
SAN Island Resource Consolidation: FC routing capabilities enable organizations to connect devices in separate SAN fabrics without merging the fabrics, making it easier to support equipment from multiple OEMs and multiple firmware revisions and to migrate infrastructure and/or data. Organizations can better implement secure, selective resource sharing through LSANs while improving resource utilization.
FCIP for disaster recovery/business continuance: Organizations can utilize FC routing capabilities combined with FCIP to replicate data in a geographically distant location for disaster recovery. The key benefit of this approach is that FCIP provides distance-independent connectivity over IP WANs, and when combined with FC routing, the SANs do not merge over the IP WAN improving operational stability. This solution is managed seamlessly alongside the rest of the SAN infrastructure.
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| Q6. |
What is FCIP for long-distance connectivity? How is the B-series solution different? |
| A6. |
The HP MPR Blade FCIP tunneling service enables organizations to extend their Fibre Channel SANs over longer distances that would be impractical or expensive with native Fibre Channel links. This service offers the advantage of integrating the FCIP link within the B-series infrastructure and mgmt tools —an easier and more cost-effective deployment and management method than an external gateway.
A key differentiator for the B-series is that the FC routing function enables the two fabrics connected through an FCIP link to remain separate rather than merging them into a single fabric. As a result, this FC routing and FCIP approach enables a more secure, and stable distance-connectivity solution for disaster recovery. The device also supports up to eight virtual tunnels per physical link for maximum fan-in efficiency.
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| Q7. |
What are some use cases for the FCIP Tunneling SAN Service? |
| A7. |
FCIP is cost-effective solution for many organizations that need to share or move data for long distances:
Long-distance SAN extension: share data between SANs connected over IP networks.
Business continuance and disaster recovery: enable data replication, movement, and access between geographically disparate SANs, leveraging IP WAN infrastructures
Consolidated backup of remote offices: back up remote offices to a centralized location using an IP link.
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| Q8. |
What management tools are available for the HP StorageWorks Multi-Protocol Router Blade? |
| A8. |
The HP MP Router Blade is managed using the same tools as the other switches in the HP B-series family: Telnet, Advanced Web Tools, SNMP, B-series Fabric Manager (optional), and other SMI Agent-based applications. |
| Q9. |
How can I use the HP StorageWorks Multi-Protocol Router Blade for distance connectivity? What are the differences between long-distance connectivity using Fibre Channel and FCIP? |
| A9. |
The HP MP Router Blade can connect SANs through Fibre Channel or IP networks as follows:
In a pure Fibre Channel environment, a very low overhead mechanism enables the efficient movement of data through the SAN. Before a frame is forwarded from device to device, assurances are made that there is adequate buffer space available for that frame in the receiver. With this approach, data can progress through the network without the unnecessary retransmissions caused by frames being dropped at receivers due to insufficient buffer space. The mechanism used to communicate the availability of adequate buffer space is the buffer credit. Each buffer credit represents an amount of reserved storage that can be used to receive frames. Ports will support up to a maximum of 255 credits to a single port—equal to 255 km at 2Gbit/sec or more than 500 km at 1 Gbit/sec.
FCIP is an encapsulating protocol that takes Fibre Channel frames and packages them as data in a TCP stream. This enables Fibre Channel traffic to flow over networks that do not support Fibre Channel as a native protocol. An FCIP gateway will typically have both a Fibre Channel connection and a TCP/IP port. It takes inbound Fibre Channel frames and assembles TCP data stream segments that include the original Fibre Channel frames as payload. It then forwards the byte stream to another FCIP gateway device that reverses the process. It is important to note that buffer credits are not used to regulate the flow of frames between the FCIP gateways. Because FCIP performance is a function of the quality of the network (latency and packet drops), performance figures will vary based on the network provider’s SLA price.
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