Persistent Binding

Binding luns on a SE9910 or SE9960 is done so only the specified logical disk paths will be seen on a certain system through a specified host bus adapter. This is like zoning on a SAN where you would want to zone certain devices to a certain system so only that system will be able to access the devices. Except when we are binding to host bus adapters we can specify luns mapped to the same port on the SE99x0 array to be bound to specific I/O cards on a system and bind other luns in that loop to another host bus adapter on the same system or on a completely different system. One aspect in which HBA binding is different from port zoning is that zoning covers all devices connected to a port on the switch being accessed by the system(s) in the same zone. If we are connected to a switch and we do hba binding then we can select which luns we want to see on the system and which ones we do not want to see, even when the luns are mapped through the same port.

After we have already created our LDEVs on the SE99x0 and have mapped them to the desired ports on the SE99x0 Channel Adapter ports; via the Remote Management Console or SVP we can set up the system to bind those luns to a specified host bus adapter on the required systems.

Manual Binding

To manually bind luns to a certain host bus adapter we can edit the /kernel/drv/sd.conf file and add entries that specify a specific target and lun value on the same line as the host bus adapter number and the world wide port number of the port on the SE99x0 array that the luns are mapped through. For example, an entry in the sd.conf file might look like the following:

name="sd" class="scsi" target=0 lun=0 hba="fca-pci0" wwn="50000E1000008322";

For a system using the jnic.conf file to specify binding to a sbus system:

name="sd" class="scsi" target=0 lun=0 hba="jnic0" wwn="50000E1000008322";

These entries will reserve the target number and lun numbers for the devices connected to the specified host bus adapter mapped through the specified port on the SE99x0 array.

Using EZ-Fiber

Another method to bind luns mapped through the same port on the SE99x0 array is to use the EZ-Fiber GUI. However, if you have bound the LDEVs manually, then changes made to those bindings through the GUI will not take effect. If you wish to use the EZ-Fiber to perform binding then you must remove the entries for the hba and wwn in the sd.conf file.

At this point we can use the EZ-Fiber to specify which luns we want to bind to the system by checking the box on the line for the lun in the column labeled "mapped". If the entries for the target number we see through EZ-Fiber do not exist in the sd.conf file then they will automatically be entered when we commit the changes in the GUI. Also, if the target value is changed through EZ-Fiber then the Loop ID specified on the Hitachi array will not matter regarding the target that the logical device acquires upon reboot. After a boot -r is issued, the target number for the logical device will become what was specified in EZ-Fiber. Once again, in order for the target value to be entered in the sd.conf file we must commit any changes made through the GUI by clicking the commit button. Format will now show the devices we selected to bind to an hba along with the new target values.

Walk-through of the EZ-Fiber Graphic User Interface to specify binding and to change target numbers:

1) Launch the GUI with the ezf executable. You will see a tree in the left window that starts with System View. You can expand the branches that have the "+" symbol next to them. System View has a branch with the system name and the OS that this system is running.

2) Expand from the desired system to view the HBA's on this system, for example FCI-1063 HBA0. You can highlight the HBA here that you wish to bind luns to

3) Click the tab labelled Lun-level zoning. If you wish to bind a specific lun to this HBA simply click the box on the line for that lun in the column labeled mapped. To change the target ID double click on a target number for a lun and a new window should come up named select Target ID. Enter the desired new target value and click OK. The new target number should propagate the Target column for all the luns. Remember, this will only change the target number seen through format if the luns are mapped through EZ-Fiber.

4) Now just commit the changes and do a reconfiguration reboot.

From EZ-Fiber we can expand the tree so see the fiber channel and the luns on that loop. To do so expand from the HBA to see the Fiber Channel Target number and the Fiber Channel Address, for example FC Target0 (01-0050). Then from this we can expand once more to see the luns on the Hitachi, seen via the connection through the HBA we just expanded.

Illustrated below are the entries made for Persistent binding made by EZ-Fiber in the /kernel/drv/fca-pci.conf In this example it persistently binds the 2 on-board [JNI-1063] hba's to two SE99x0 CHA's [5 luns]:

fca_nport=1; #running full fabric mode
name="fca-pci" parent="/pci@1f,0/pci@1" unit-address="1"
def_hba_binding="null" #this entry enables persistent binding
taget3_wwnn="$500060e80279de08" #world-wide node name of CHA #Note: 08= cluster 1 (0), adapter J(8)
target3_lun0_hba="fca-pci0"
target3_lun1_hba="fca-pci0" #Solaris fca-pci instance 0
target3_lun2_hba="fca-pci0"; # (;) ends the target 3 string
target4_wwnn="500060e80279de18" #Note 18= cluster 2 (1), adapter J(8)
target4_lun1_hba="fca-pci1" #Solaris fca-pci instance 1
target4_lun2_hba="fca-pci1"; # (;) end string for target 4
;            

Note 1: Any time you map or unmap through EZ-Fiber, the fca-pci.conf or jnic.conf file is changed. The value for def_hba_binding is changed to ="null". This is done so only the specified luns are bound to the specified host bus adapter. If you wish to still see all the devices connected through the hba then you need to manually edit this file so the entry now reads def_hba_binding="fca-pci*" in the fca-pci.conf file or def_hba_binding="jnic*" in the jnic.conf file. In the fca-pci.conf file there are 2 locations to make this change. One is about in the middle of the text and the other is at the bottom. If you don't change this entry after you unmap the luns through the EZ-Fiber GUI then you will not see any devices on the Hitachi array.

Note 2: If everything is configured correctly before setting up binding then EZ-Fiber should see all the HBA's and all the luns after you install the EZ-Fiber [2.2] software.

Note 3: You can change the target numbers to whatever you want, assuming it's validated in your /kernel/drv/sd.conf file.

Glenn Thoren

Storage [TSE]

http://storage.east/hitachi