xyratex storview path manager for windows

Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows

Part No. 0078953-06A

Issue 2.3

August 22, 2008

NoticesThe information in this document is subject to change without notice.

While every effort has been made to ensure that all information in this document is accurate, the Authors accept no liability for any errors that may arise.

No part of this document may be transmitted or copied in any form, or by any means, for any purpose, without the written permission of the Authors.

Acknowledgments

Issue 2.3 August 22, 2008 Part No. 0078953-06A


• Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

• All names, brands, products or services are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

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Contents

ContentsPreface ................................................................................................................................................... v

Revision History ...................................................................................................................................... v

1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 11.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 11.2 System Requirements ................................................................................................................. 1

1.2.1 Hardware Requirements .................................................................................................... 21.2.2 Supported Operating Systems ........................................................................................... 21.2.3 Software Requirements ...................................................................................................... 2

1.3 What’s New ................................................................................................................................. 21.3.1 Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 ...................................................................... 21.3.2 Single Installer for All Hardware Types .............................................................................. 21.3.3 Upgrading No Longer Requires Uninstall ........................................................................... 3

2 Installation ....................................................................................................................................... 52.1 Installation ................................................................................................................................... 52.2 Components ................................................................................................................................ 62.3 Uninstallation ............................................................................................................................... 6

3 User Interface .................................................................................................................................. 93.1 Control Panel ............................................................................................................................... 93.2 Advanced Configuration ............................................................................................................ 113.3 Change Host ............................................................................................................................. 123.4 Tech Support ............................................................................................................................. 133.5 Windows Server 2008 Integrated MPIO Interfaces ................................................................... 13

3.5.1 MPIO Control Panel Application ....................................................................................... 143.5.2 Device Manager MPIO Tab .............................................................................................. 16

4 How To … ....................................................................................................................................... 194.1 How to Set the Path Selection Policy ........................................................................................ 194.2 How to Automatically Select Preferred Paths ............................................................................ 194.3 How to Manually Select Preferred Paths ................................................................................... 204.4 How to Manage a System Remotely ......................................................................................... 204.5 How to Determine Which Path is in Use ................................................................................... 21

5 Known Issues / Limitations .......................................................................................................... 23

6 Troubleshooting ............................................................................................................................ 256.1 Installation errors ....................................................................................................................... 25

6.1.1 Previous version detected ................................................................................................ 256.1.2 Device driver already loaded ............................................................................................ 26

6.2 The Storage Doesn’t Appear ..................................................................................................... 266.3 The Problem Can’t Be Resolved ............................................................................................... 27

7 Event Codes .................................................................................................................................. 297.1 Events ....................................................................................................................................... 29

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7.2 Error Messages ......................................................................................................................... 307.3 Informational Messages ............................................................................................................ 307.4 Warning Messages ................................................................................................................... 31

Glossary ............................................................................................................................................... 33

iv

Preface

PrefaceWhat is in this guideThis user guide gives you an overview of how to use the Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows to configure multipathing in a RAID system.

Who should use this guideThis user guide is for those needing to set up a multipath solution in the Windows environment.

About this guideThis user guide provides the following information:

• Chapter 1, ”Introduction,” on page 1 provides an introduction and system requirements.

• Chapter 2, ”Installation,” on page 5 gives details on how to set up the software, what components are included and how to uninstall.

• Chapter 3, ”User Interface,” on page 9 details the graphical user interface.

• Chapter 4, ”How To …,” on page 19 provides step-by-step instructions for a number of common tasks.

• Chapter 5, ”Known Issues / Limitations,” on page 23 gives warning of any limitations in the software.

• Chapter 6, ”Troubleshooting,” on page 25 provides resolutions for some common problems.

• The Glossary on page 33 defines some of the terms used throughout this user guide.

Revision History

Version Date Description of Change

1.0 September 26, 2006 Initial Release.

1.1 April 13, 2007 Updates for version 4.

2.0 September 19, 2007 Introduction of path selection policies.

2.1 February 20, 2008 Added support for RS-1220-F4-6412E enclosure.

2.2 June 20, 2008 Windows Server 2008 support, single installer for all enclosures.

2.3 August 22, 2008 Minor updates.

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vi

Introduction

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 IntroductionXyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows is a Windows Multipath Input/Output (MPIO) solution. It utilizes the Microsoft Windows MPIO framework. Official Microsoft documentation concerning MPIO can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/storage/mpio/default.mspx

Multipathing is the use of multiple physical components (such as host bus adapters, cables and switches) to provide two or more data paths to a storage device and hence avoid a single point of failure. When a component in one path fails, a different path to the device will still be available for data transfer.

A path is defined as the complete route from host to controller, including the HBA, cabling and possibly a switch. A multipath solution requires that there is more than one of these paths.

The number of paths is easy to see if direct connections are made (it is simply the number of physical cables), but less obvious if a switch is used. If, for example, there are 3 HBAs connected to a switch, and the switch is connected to both ports of a controller, this results in a total of 6 paths.

Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows can be configured to use various Path Selection Policies. A Path Selection Policy indicates how the software will decide which path to use for I/O at a given moment. For example, the path manager can be configured to always use the Preferred Path if it is available, or alternatively, to perform Load Balancing using a Round Robin path selection policy. For more information about Path Selection Policies, see 4.1, ”How to Set the Path Selection Policy,” on page 19.

1.2 System RequirementsUse of Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows requires the following:

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1.2.1 Hardware RequirementsThe following enclosures and RAID Controllers are supported:

• RS-1220-F4-5402E (F5402E)

• RS-1220-E3-5402E (E5402E)

• RS-4835-F4-5404E (F5404E)

• RS-1220-F4-5412E (F5412E)

• RS-1220-E3-5412E (E5412E)

• RS-1220-F4-6412E (F6412E)

In order to use multipathing, you will need a storage configuration where there are at least two paths from the host to the storage. However, the software can be installed on a system that does not yet have multiple paths.

1.2.2 Supported Operating Systems

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (Web, Standard, Enterprise, Enterprise 64-bit and Standard 64-bit).

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32-bit, 64-bit and IA64).

1.2.3 Software Requirements

• The Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1 or 2.0. This can be obtained by running Windows Update, or by downloading the .NET Framework Redistributable Package from the following URL:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/

1.3 What’s NewThe following features have been added to Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows, version 6:

1.3.1 Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008This version of Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows supports Windows Server 2008, including the new Failover Cluster paradigm.

1.3.2 Single Installer for All Hardware TypesThis version of Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows provides a single installer for all supported Xyratex storage enclosures. It is no longer necessary to select the correct installer based on the type of

2

Introduction

hardware you have. Additionally, if you have more than one type of storage enclosure, a single GUI will manage all of them.

1.3.3 Upgrading No Longer Requires UninstallPrevious versions of the software required uninstallation before upgrading the software to a new version. This is no longer the case.

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4

Installation

Chapter 2

Installation

2.1 InstallationWarning Due to the low-level nature of this software, you must not abort installation part-way through.

Doing so may cause adverse effects, including system corruption.

To install StorView Path Manager for Windows:

1 Disconnect all storage subsystems from the host system.

Note If a storage subsystem is running the operating system for the host, do not disconnect this storage subsystem.

2 Start Windows Explorer and double-click the executable installation file.

3 Click Next at the Welcome message.

4 Read the License Agreement. If you are happy with the terms of use, click I Agree.

5 You will be reminded to remove all storage connections. Once you have done so, check the box marked “I have physically removed all connections to my storage, other than storage that may serve as the operating system boot partition” and click Next.

6 Choose the folder in which to install the application (the default is: “Program Files\StorView Path Manager 6.00”). Click Install.

7 If a previous version of Xyratex StorView Path Manager is detected, you will be prompted whether or not to updgrade to the new version. Click Yes to upgrade.

8 Wait for installation to complete. Do not interrupt the installation.

9 You will be prompted to restart your computer. Click Yes.

10 Re-connect all storage subsystems.

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2.2 ComponentsStorView Path Manager for Windows consists of the following files:

• MPIO drivers (mpio.sys, mpdev.sys, mpspfltr.sys) – These are Microsoft's part of the MPIO solution. Version 1.20 of the drivers will be installed. Any existing vendor-specific MPIO solution will still work properly, since MPIO is backwards compatible.

• DSM driver (xyrsp2x0.sys) – This is the Xyratex vendor-specific part of the MPIO solution. A DSM driver is installed for each type of Xyratex storage enclosure. Note that the numeric part of the filename may differ on older versions of the software.

• Control Panel GUI (svpmgui.exe) – Used to manage the multipath solution.

• Installation program.

2.3 UninstallationWarning Due to the low-level nature of this software, you must not abort uninstallation. Doing so may

cause adverse effects, including system corruption.

StorView Path Manager for Windows can be uninstalled in the standard manner:

1 Disconnect all storage subsystems from all HBAs before uninstalling (if this is not done, uninstallation can take a long time, especially on a system with many paths).

Note If a storage subsystem is running the operating system for the host, do not disconnect this storage subsystem.

2 Click the Start button.

3 Click “Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs.”

4 Find the entry for StorView Path Manager and click on it.

5 Click the Remove button and follow the on-screen instructions.

6 Reconnect the storage subsystems.

Note If your Operating System is running on an MPIO device that is controlled by this StorView Path Manager installation, the uninstaller will not be able to completely remove the Microsoft MPIO drivers. The StorView Path Manager software will still be uninstalled by the uninstaller, and there will be no adverse affects on the system. If this happens, you may manually uninstall the Microsoft MPIO drivers after you reboot. This is optional, and can be done as follows:

1 Open the Windows Device Manager.

2 Expand the “SCSI and RAID controllers” node by clicking the “+” icon.

3 Right click on “Multi-Path Support” and select the “Uninstall” option.

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Installation

4 Click “OK” on the “Confirm Device Removal” window.

5 Reboot the system when prompted.

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8

User Interface

Chapter 3

User Interface

3.1 Control PanelConfiguration of StorView Path Manager for Windows is available from the Windows Start Menu (“All Programs -> StorView Path Manager -> StorView Path Manager”).

The control panel automatically updates about every 10 seconds.

Figure 3–1 The Control Panel

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At the top of the pane, the “Managing Host” line shows the network address of the computer currently being managed. By default, this is the local system. It can be changed using the Change Host link (see 3.3, ”Change Host,” on page 12).

The right hand pane shows one line for each multipathed logical drive with the following information:• The Disk Number (as shown in the Window’s Disk Management).• The capacity in GB.• The drive letters of any volumes seen by Windows. A maximum of two letters will be shown. If more

exist, a “...” will be shown and the rest can be viewed by hovering the mouse over the text and waiting for the tooltip to appear.

• The combined read/write rate in MB/s.• The combined number of read/write IOPS (Input/Outputs Per Second).• An icon identifying that the logical drive is part of a cluster, if applicable.

The operating system would normally see each and every path as a separate logical drive, but MPIO enables it to see which paths point to the same logical drive and lists those paths under each drive accordingly.

Clicking the plus sign (“+”) opens the multipath information for the Disk:• The Path Selection Policy. This can be “Failover,” “Failover/Failback,” or “Round Robin.” See

“Setting the Path Selection Policy” for details.• The Serial Number (SN) as reported in byte 0x83 of the data format returned by a SCSI Inquiry

command.• The number of paths.

For each path, the following is also shown:• State:

– “Active” – The path is healthy and is currently being used to handle I/O.– “Passive” – The path is healthy, but not currently in use.– “Failed” – The path has encountered errors. It is not healthy and cannot be used. It may be

removed or may recover, depending on the situation.• SCSI Address - In the form “Port:Bus:Target:LUN”:

– Port – The HBA number.– Bus – The HBA port.– Target – The target ID of the logical drives (this may not match the controller target ID settings

because Windows uses its own scheme for assigning target IDs).– LUN – The Logical Unit Number.

Any two devices with the same Port, Bus and Target will be on the same physical path.• Controller – The controller and controller port to which the path is connected. This is in the form

“CxPy”, where “x” is the controller number (0 or 1) and “y” is the port number (0 or 1).• Preferred path - If the Path Selection Policy is set to “Failover/Failback,” the preferred path will be

used in preference to any other. Also, if the preferred path fails and is subsequently restored, I/O will return to using this path. The preferred path is only applicable when the Path Selection Policy is “Failover/Failback.”

The left hand pane contains two links:

• Advanced Configuration (see 3.2, ”Advanced Configuration,” on page 11) – allows fine-tuning of MPIO parameters.

• Tech Support (see 3.4, ”Tech Support,” on page 13) – version numbers and DSM trace control.

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User Interface

3.2 Advanced ConfigurationWarning These options are for advanced users only. In normal use you should not need to alter any of the

settings from their defaults.

The Advanced Configuration window is accessed by clicking the link of the same name in the Control Panel.

The options presented here have useful defaults and generally don’t need to be changed to get MPIO running successfully.

The following configuration items are present:

• Retry Count – The number of times the driver will retry a failed path before it is declared invalid. It will then be removed after the period of time specified in the PDO Remove option.

• Retry Interval – The time in seconds that the driver waits before retrying a path that returned an error.

• PDO Remove Period – The amount of time to wait before removing Physical Device Objects that have been declared invalid.

• Path Verify – If this option has a check mark, Passive paths (those with no I/O) will be tested in the background for validity and declared invalid if they fail.

• Path Verification Period – The interval (in seconds) for checking idle paths – see the Path Verify option above.

Figure 3–2 Advanced Configuration

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• Auto Balance – If this option has a check mark, preferred paths of all LUNs are automatically balanced evenly between host ports and controller ports. This enables distribution of I/O load by utilizing as many host ports and controller ports as possible. Additionally, when this feature is enabled, the storage administrator no longer has to manually manage preferred paths.

• Initial Rebalance Interval – The time in seconds that the driver waits after booting up, before performing Auto Balance of preferred paths. If Auto Balance is not checked, this value is ignored. Auto Balance will occur if a path is added or removed. To avoid multiple rebalances as paths are initially discovered, this value allows a minimum time for the first Auto Balance occurrence.

• Rebalance Interval – The time in seconds that the driver waits, after the initial rebalance interval has elapsed, before responding to configuration changes by performing Auto Balance of preferred paths. Auto Balance will occur if a path is added or removed. To avoid multiple rebalances in a short period of time, this value allows a minimum interval between Auto Balance occurrences.

Click Apply to make changes, or Close to exit without altering the settings.

3.3 Change HostThe Change Host window is accessed by clicking the link of the same name in the Control Panel.

Enter one of the following to connect to a different host computer:

• The Windows host name, for example: “\\host1.”

• The qualified host name, for example: “host1.company.com.”

• The IP address of the host, for example: “192.168.109.131.”

Note The user name and password of the remote host must be identical to that of the current host in order to make a connection.

If a connection is established, the “Managing” label will change to the name of the new host computer and the Control Panel will reflect the settings on the new system. Otherwise an error message will appear.

Figure 3–3 Change Host

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User Interface

3.4 Tech SupportThe Tech Support window gives information on software version numbers.

The following version numbers are shown:

• StorView Path Manager for Windows Version. This is the version of the Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows GUI.

• Microsoft MPIO Driver Version. This is the version number for the Microsoft part of the MPIO drivers.

DSM traces can also be generated from this window. This is only necessary if you are experiencing problems with StorView Path Manager for Windows. The trace should be sent to your storage vendor as it may contain useful debug information.

Traces can be enabled or disabled by clicking on the link of the same name (a reboot will be required for the change to take effect).

To view a DSM trace click the Get Trace link. The results will be shown in Window’s Notepad.

3.5 Windows Server 2008 Integrated MPIO InterfacesWindows Server 2008 integrates several MPIO features into its user interface. This section describes the relationship between StorView Path Manager and the Windows MPIO user interface features.

Figure 3–4 Tech Support

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3.5.1 MPIO Control Panel ApplicationWindows Server 2008 includes an MPIO Control Panel application which allows you to view, add, and remove MPIO support for their storage devices.

Note Xyratex does not support the use of the MPIO Control Panel application to perform MPIO configuration for Xyratex storage devices.

The MPIO Control Panel application consists of 3 tabs:

• MPIO-ed Devices

• Discover Multi-Paths

• DSM Install.

3.5.1.1 MPIO-ed DevicesThis tab shows which storage products are under MPIO control and allows you to add and remove support for MPIO to storage devices. Note that if the Add button is used to add MPIO support to a storage device, the specified storage device will be under control of the generic Microsoft DSM and the specialized Xyratex driver will not be loaded. Instead of using the Add button on this tab, follow the Installation instructions documented in 2.1, ”Installation,” on page 5.

Similarly, you should not use the Remove button to remove MPIO support for Xyratex storage devices. Doing so will result in only a partial uninstall of Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows, and will result in difficulty when uninstalling or re-installing StorView Path Manager.

When StorView Path Manager for Windows is installed on the system, the MPIO-ed Devices tab will show the Xyratex storage devices that are under MPIO control, as shown in the figure below.

Figure 3–5 MPIO-ed Devices

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User Interface

3.5.1.2 Discover Multi-PathsThis tab allows the user to add MPIO support to storage devices. Note that if the Add button is used to add MPIO support to a storage device, the specified storage device will be under control of the generic Microsoft DSM and the specialized Xyratex driver will not be loaded. Instead of using the Add button on this tab, follow the Installation instructions documented in 2.1, ”Installation,” on page 5.

If Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows is installed, Xyratex storage devices will not show up on this tab. They will only show up on this tab if you have not installed the appropriate version of StorView Path Manager for Windows. The figure below shows the case where a RS-1220-F4-6412E (F6412E) is attached to the system, but StorView Path Manager for Windows has not yet been installed.

Figure 3–6 Discover Multi-Paths

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3.5.1.3 DSM InstallThis tab allows you to install a DSM using the raw driver files. Rather than using this tab, follow the Installation instructions documented in 2.1, ”Installation,” on page 5.

3.5.2 Device Manager MPIO TabIf MPIO support is added for a disk device, the Device Manager will show an MPIO tab for that disk device.

Figure 3–7 DSM Install

Figure 3–8 Device Manager MPIO Tab

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User Interface

The preferred method of viewing and configuring MPIO properties for Xyratex storage is to use the StorView Path Manager User Interface, as described earlier in this chapter. However, limited support is provided for using the Device Manager MPIO tab.

The Device Manager MPIO tab shows the Path Selection Policy for a Logical Drive (labeled as the “Load Balance Policy”), as well as a list of paths. The “Load Balance Policy” maps to the Path Selection Policy as follows:

Note Note the difference between the Xyratex terminology “Failover” and the Microsoft Device Manager terminology “Fail Over Only”. These are two different policies.

The Device Manager MPIO tab can be used to modify the Path Selection Policy in a limited manner. To modify the Path Selection Policy using the Device Manager MPIO tab:

• Select “Fail Over Only” or “Round Robin” as the Load Balance Policy.

• Click “OK.”

As noted in the table above, “Fail Over Only” maps to “Failover/Failback”. Since “Vendor Specific” cannot be selected as the Load Balance Policy, this means that the Device Manager MPIO tab cannot be used to set the Path Selection Policy to “Failover.” Please use the StorView Path Manager User Interface, as described earlier in this chapter 3, to perform this action.

Selections other than “Fail Over Only,” “Round Robin,” and “Vendor Specific” may appear as choices for the Load Balance Policy. However, these are the only choices that are supported by Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows.

The Device Manager MPIO tab can also be used to view and modify path properties. To view path properties, select a path and click “Edit...” The figure below shows the resulting screen.

Table 3–1 Path Selection Policy <-> Load Balance Policy

Path Selection Policy(see Section 4.1)

Load Balance Policy displayed on the Device Manager MPIO tab

Failover/Failback Fail Over Only

Round Robin Round Robin

Failover Vendor Specific

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From this screen, the user can modify the Preferred Path. To modify the Preferred Path using this screen:

• Edit the path that is to be made the Preferred Path check the “Preferred” checkbox, and click “OK.”

• Edit the path that was previously the Preferred Path, uncheck the “Preferred” checkbox, and click “OK.”

• Click “OK” on the Device Manager MPIO tab.

Please note the following:

• The Preferred Path can only be modified in this manner for Logical Disks that have the “Fail Over Only” Load Balance Policy. Please use the StorView Path Manager User Interface, as described in Chapter 3, to modify the Preferred Path for other Logical Disks.

• If more than one path is marked as “Preferred,” no change to the Preferred Path will be made.

• Changes to the “Path State” are ignored.

Figure 3–9 Device Manager MPIO Tab

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How To ...

Chapter 4

How To …

4.1 How to Set the Path Selection Policy1 Open the User Interface (see 3.1, ”Control Panel,” on page 9).

2 Expand the disk in question by clicking the “+” button.

3 Click on the Path Selection Policy for the logical disk. The Path Selection Policy shows up as a hyperlink and can be set to Failover, Failover/Failback, or Round Robin.

4 The Path Selection Policy window will open. Select the policy you wish to use for this logical drive:

• Failover: The Preferred Path is the default path for I/O. If this path fails, I/O will failover to the next available path. If the previous path comes back online, I/O does not failback to the previous path.

• Failover/Failback: The Preferred Path is the default path for I/O. If this path fails, I/O will failover to the next available path. If the Preferred Path becomes available again, I/O will failback to the Preferred Path.

• Round Robin: I/O is distributed among all healthy paths in a round robin fashion. This can be used to achieve load balancing.

4.2 How to Automatically Select Preferred Paths

1 Open the User Interface (see 3.1, ”Control Panel,” on page 9).

2 Click the “Advanced Configuration” link and make sure that the Auto Balance box is checked.

3 Click Apply.

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4 Wait for preferred paths to be automatically balanced. There may be a delay before this occurs.

4.3 How to Manually Select Preferred Paths


2 Click the “Advanced Configuration” link and make sure that the Auto Balance box is unchecked.

3 Click Apply.

4 Expand the disk in question by clicking on the “+” button.

5 Click the radio button that corresponds to the path you want to be preferred. I/O will switch to this new path if it is not already being used.

If you are using dissimilar hardware for different paths, you may want to specify the preferred path as:

• The path with the highest quality components, which may be more reliable.

• The fastest path, which can be determined by switching paths as described above, and monitoring the “MB/s” and “IOPS” statistics for the Disk.

4.4 How to Manage a System RemotelyNote To manage a system remotely, the remote system must have the same user name and password as the

current system.


2 Click the Change Host link (see 3.3, ”Change Host,” on page 12).

3 Type the Windows host name, the fully qualified host name, or the IP address.

4 Click Connect.

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How To ...

4.5 How to Determine Which Path is in Use


2 Expand the disk in question by clicking on the “+” button.

3 The path marked “Active” under the “State” heading is the one currently in use. If I/O is currently occurring on this path, the “MB/s” and “IOPS” values will be greater than zero.

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22

Known Issues / Limitations

Chapter 5

Known Issues / Limitations

• A maximum of 32 paths per logical drive is supported. For example, connecting 4 controller ports and 8 HBA connections to a switch would reach this limit.

• When logical drives are created they may not be visible to Windows until a “Scan for hardware changes” is performed from the Windows Device Manager. If there many LUNs, Windows can take a long time (up to 20 minutes) to discover them all.

• The Change Host function requires the remote system to have the same user name and password as the current system.

• In some cases, it is possible for a logical disk to be incorrectly identified as a cluster member. The cluster icon is shown when a reserve, release, or reset command has been sent to a logical disk. Once such a command is sent to the logical disk, StorView Path Manager assumes that the Logical Disk is a member of a cluster. Rebooting the host clears this state.

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24

Troubleshooting

Chapter 6

Troubleshooting

6.1 Installation errors

6.1.1 Previous version detectedThis occurs if you receive the following error message: “Setup has detected an existing version of this Multi Path Driver. Please uninstall the existing driver, then run this installer again.”

Make sure StorView Path Manager is not already installed. If it is, uninstall it via Add/Remove Programs, and run the installer again.

If you are unable to uninstall StorView Path Manager via Add/Remove Programs, this could indicate that the installer was previously interrupted before it could complete. To manually eliminate the previous version, use the following procedure:

1 In “C:\Program Files,” if there are any folders named “StorView Path Manager #.#” (where #.# is the version number), delete the folder.

2 Remove registry entries as follows:

1 From the Window’s Start menu, select “Run.”

2 Enter “regedit” and click OK.

3 Navigate to:“My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MPDEV.”

4 If there is an entry named “MPIOSupportedDeviceList”, remove all entries matching the storage device you are trying to install. For example, if you are installing StorView Path Manager for a Xyratex F5402E, remove the entry that says “XYRATEX 5402E.”

Note: Certain storage products are paired together. If your storage system is Xyratex F5402E, also remove the entry for Xyratex F5412E, and vice versa. If your storage system is Xyratex E5402E, also remove the entry for Xyratex E5412E, and vice versa.

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5 Navigate to “My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\.”

6 Look for any entries named “xyrsp200,” “xyrsp210,” or “xyrsp230.” Delete these entries.

3 Run the installer again.

6.1.2 Device driver already loadedThis occurs if you receive the error message: “A device driver is already loaded for this hardware type. If you wish to install this driver instead, please first uninstall the existing driver, then run this installer again.”

If there is an existing MPIO driver installed for this hardware type, uninstall it, then run the installer again.

If you are sure that there is not already an existing MPIO driver installed for this hardware type, this could indicate that the installer was previously interrupted before it could complete. To manually correct the problem, use the following procedure:

1 Remove StorView Path Manager registry entries as follows:

1 From the Windows Start menu, select “Run.”

2 Enter “regedit” and click OK.

3 Navigate to:“My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MPDEV.”

4 If there is an entry named “MPIOSupportedDeviceList”, remove all entries matching the storage device you are trying to install. For example, if you are installing StorView Path Manager for a Xyratex F5402E, remove the entry that says “XYRATEX 5402E.”

Note: Certain storage products are paired together. If your storage system is Xyratex F5402E, also remove the entry for Xyratex F5412E, and vice versa. If your storage system is Xyratex E5402E, also remove the entry for Xyratex E5412E, and vice versa.

2 Run the installer again.

6.2 The Storage Doesn’t AppearWhen a disk drive is first discovered by Windows it identifies the correct device driver and retains this information in the Registry for future use.

If MPIO-capable drives are detected by Windows before StorView Path Manager for Windows is installed, Windows will sometimes continue to use the default single-path drivers rather than the new MPIO drivers. The drives will therefore not be multipath capable.

To fix this, use the Windows Device Manager to remove the devices, then use the “Scan for hardware changes” option to reacquire the devices. They will now use the MPIO drivers and be fully multipath capable.

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Troubleshooting

If you have doubts as to which device drivers are being used, they can be determined using the following procedure:

1 Open the Windows Device Manager.

2 Expand the “Disk Drives” node by clicking the “+” icon.

3 Right click on the desired drive and select the “Properties” option.

4 Click on the “Driver” tab.

5 Click the Driver Details button.

If the driver named “mpdev.sys” is listed, the MPIO drivers are in use for this device.

6.3 The Problem Can’t Be ResolvedContact your storage vendor and send them a DSM trace (see 3.4, ”Tech Support,” on page 13 for instructions on how to do this).

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28

Event Codes

Chapter 7

Event Codes

7.1 EventsXyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows uses the standard Windows “System” event log to record any information or errors that may be of interest.

The “Source” of an event generated by Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows will be of the form “xyrsp2##”, where “##” is dependent on the version of the software in use.

To view events:

1 In the Windows Control Panel, select “Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer.”

2 Click on the “System” log to view system-level events.

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7.2 Error MessagesError messages are serious problems with the software that generally require immediate attention.

7.3 Informational MessagesInformational messages are those which may be of interest, but do not necessarily require any action to be taken.

• <drive> – The serial number of the drive.

Table 7–1 Error Messages

Code Message Description

1 Could not allocate memory The system is very low on memory.

2 Internal system call failed A call to one of the Microsoft MPIO drivers has failed. This can happen if the Microsoft drivers are removed or downgraded. If this is the case, uninstall and re-install Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows (this will update the Microsoft drivers to the appropriate level).

3 Could not access the supported device list from the registry

These errors can happen as a result of registry corruption. Try uninstalling and re-installing Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows to make sure the contents of the registry is valid.

4 Could not access the path selection policy from the registry

Table 7–2 Informational Messages


257 The multi-path DSM has started The path manager driver has been loaded. This should happen every time the system boots.

258 Found new logical drive [SN: <drive>] on path <path>

A logical drive has been discovered. This typically happens at boot time for all logical drives that are managed by Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows. It also occurs when a new LD is created or discovered by the host.

259 Adding redundant path <path> to logical drive [SN: <drive>]

An additional path has been found for a logical drive.

260 The active path on logical drive [SN: <drive>] has been switched to the preferred path on <path>

The active path has switched from a non-preferred path to the preferred path.

261 The preferred path has been set to <path> on logical drive [SN: <drive>]

The preferred path has been set via the Xyratex StorView Path Manager for Windows control panel.

262 The controller time is <time> via path <path>

Occurs when a path is discovered. The owning controller timestamps the event.

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Event Codes

• <path> – The identifier for the path, in the form “[LogicalDriveNumber port:bus:target:lun].”

• <time> – The controller time.

7.4 Warning MessagesWarning messages cover events of moderate severity that may require attention.

• <drive> – The serial number of the drive.

• <path> – The identifier for the path, in the form “[LogicalDriveNumber port:bus:target:lun].”

Table 7–3 Warning Messages


513 Path <path> has been removed from logical drive [SN: <drive>]

A path is no longer visible to the host. This only indicates that one path has gone away, and does not necessarily mean that the LD is inaccessible.

514 Logical drive [SN: <drive>] has been removed

The logical drive is no longer visible to the host, which means that no paths are available to it. This will occur if the storage was unplugged or controller rebooted, and no other paths are available.

515 The path for logical drive [SN: <drive>] has failed over to <path> because of a path error

An error occurred while trying to do I/O and the logical drive is failing over to a new path as a result.

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Glossary

GlossaryAuto Balance A feature that automatically balances preferred paths evenly among all available host ports and controller ports. This helps to spread I/O load by utilizing as many host ports and controller ports as possible.

DSM Device Specific Module – Code written by a vendor that allows their hardware to use Microsoft's MPIO.

Failover Failover occurs when a path becomes unavailable and another path is used to route I/O. Note that the term “Failover” is different to the Microsoft Device Manager term “Fail Over Only”.

Failover/Failback Failover occurs when a path becomes unavailable and another path is used to route I/O. Failback occurs when a preferred path is set, it fails, and is subsequently restored. In this case I/O will “fail back” to the preferred path once it is available again.

MPIO Multipath Input/Output – A multipath solution built into Microsoft server-grade operating systems. It requires a vendor-specific DSM to work with a given piece of hardware.

Preferred Path When the Path Selection Policy is set to “Failover/Failback,” the preferred path is always used if it is available. If the preferred path fails, I/O will switch to another path. If it is later restored, I/O will switch back to the preferred path.

Round Robin The Round Robin Path Selection Policy causes all healthy paths to be used for I/O. Paths are used in a round-robin order.

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