UCS Engineering Details for the SAN Administrator

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2 UCS Engineering Details for the SAN Administrator Craig Ashapa 2

3 First things first: debunking a myth Today (June 2012 UCS 2.02m) there is no FCoE northbound of UCS unless you really really really want to That s right, there is no FCoE on external Ethernet uplinks by default In other words, FCoE is used only at the access layer (Server to Fabric Interconnect) in a totally transparent manner You don t need to know anything about FCoE to understand how storage works with UCS Everything works as usual. Servers have HBAs that FLOGI into the SAN fabric, you use zoning and LUN masking just like you do with rackmounts today UCS release 1.4 introduced support for Direct Connect FCoE targets Today, this is the only case where you ll see FCoE traffic You ll have to go through explicit configuration steps to make this happen

4 Topics Introduction of Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) CNAs and Port WWNs Considerations UCS Storage modes of operation and recommendations End Host Mode - NPV (N_Port Virtualization) FC Switching Mode Upstream Connectivity F_Port Trunking / F_Port Channeling Direct Connectivity of Storage Port Types What works and what doesn t IP-Based Storage Appliance Ports iscsi

5 Introduction of Converged Network Adapters CNAs and Port WWNs Considerations

Unified Fabric with FCoE CNA: Converged Network Adapter Nexus Edge participates in both distinct FC and IP Core topologies CNA presents multiple PCI addresses to the Operating System (OS) OS loads

Multi-Pathing driver provides failover between two fabrics (SAN A and SAN B ) UCS hardware based Fabric Failover (preferred) or OS NIC Teaming provides Ethernet traffic failover FCF Unified Wire

6 Unified Fabric with FCoE CNA: Converged Network Adapter Nexus Edge participates in both distinct FC and IP Core topologies CNA presents multiple PCI addresses to the Operating System (OS) OS loads two unique sets of drivers and manages two unique application topologies Server participates in both topologies since it has two stacks and thus two views of the same unified wire Host FC Multi-Pathing driver provides failover between two fabrics (SAN A and SAN B ) UCS hardware based Fabric Failover (preferred) or OS NIC Teaming provides Ethernet traffic failover FCF Unified Wire shared by both FC and IP topologies Ethernet Driver bound to Ethernet NIC PCI address 10GbE Ethernet Drivers Fibre Channel 10GbE Link PCIe Operating System Ethernet Fibre Channel Drivers FCF Nexus Unified Edge supports both FC and IP topologies FC Driver bound to FC HBA PCI address

sees: N port or Dual port (depending on hardware) 10 Gigabit

7 CNA: Converged Network Adapter Operating System View Emulex / Qlogic / Cisco Standard drivers Same management Operating System sees: N port or Dual port (depending on hardware) 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapter N port or Dual Port (depending on hardware) Fibre Channel HBAs 7

8 vhbas: WWN assignment WWN assignment: just like Ethernet MAC addresses Either inherited from burnt-in WWN (not with M81KR!) Or manually set Or borrowed from a pool (recommended) Up to two HBAs (called vhbas) per server with non-m81kr CNAs Backplane path failover does not exist for HBAs! A vhba either goes through switch A or B at any given time OS-level multipathing provides path resiliency Same dynamic pinning concept as with 10GE NICs Manual override allowed by using SAN pin-groups

A word on World-Wide Name formats Avoid interop issues by choosing IEEE Extended Type 2 WW Names inside pools: Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 2 0:00 00:25:B5 XX:XX:XX Section 1 identifies

9 A word on World-Wide Name formats Avoid interop issues by choosing IEEE Extended Type 2 WW Names inside pools: Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 2 0:00 00:25:B5 XX:XX:XX Section 1 identifies the WWN as an extended format WWN Section 2 is a vendor specific code and can be used to identify specific ports on a node or to extend the serial number (section 4) of the WWN Section 3 identifies the vendor (00:25:B5 = Cisco) Section 4 is the serial number for the device

10 Quick tip how do I determine my port WWNs? Determine the server s pwwn Assigned through the service profile Verify on the host it will match: Check local FLOGI for that pwwn on UCS and MDS: On Windows, use free fcinfo.exe utility

11 Fabric Interconnects Modes of Operation

12 What is NPV? N-Port Virtualizer (NPV) utilizes NPIV functionality to allow a switch to act like a server performing multiple logins through a single physical link Physical servers connected to the NPV switch login to the upstream NPIV core switch Physical uplink from NPV switch to FC NPIV core switch does actual FLOGI Subsequent logins are converted (proxy) to FDISC to login to upstream FC switch No local switching is done on an FC switch in NPV mode FC edge switch in NPV mode Does not take up a domain ID UCS Fabric Interconnect FC NPIV Core Switch F-Port Eth1/1 Server1 N_Port_ID 1 NP-Port F-Port Eth1/2 Server2 N_Port_ID 2 F_Port Eth1/3 Server3 N_Port_ID 3 N-Port

N-Port Virtualization (NPV) mode UCS FI works in NPV mode by default Server-facing ports are regular F ports Uplinks toward SAN core fabric are NP ports UCS distributes (relays) FCIDs to attached

13 N-Port Virtualization (NPV) mode UCS FI works in NPV mode by default Server-facing ports are regular F ports Uplinks toward SAN core fabric are NP ports UCS distributes (relays) FCIDs to attached devices No domain ID to maintain locally Zoning, FSPF, DPVM, etc are not configured on the UCS Fabrics Domain Mgr, FSPF, Zone Server, Fabric Login Server, Name Server They do not run on UCS Fabrics No local switching All FC traffic routed via the core SAN switches

14 UCS Storage Defaults and Recommendations for FC Default (recommended) - N_Port Virtualization (NPV) Mode End Host Mode for FC, UCS functions as Node Port (initiator) Small to Large Scale Deployments of homogeneous or heterogeneous operating systems Extensive interoperability with SAN and array ecosystem Option - FC Switching Mode UCS FI has limited FC switching features, No Zoning Configuration Must still have upstream MDS or Nexus FC switch via FC Uplink Direct Connect from Fabric Interconnect to Storage Array FC target Designed for POD or Small scale Limited interoperability with Storage ecosystem

15 UCS Storage Defaults and Recommendations for FCoE Default FCoE Traffic is internal to UCS system (blade to Fabric Interconnect) FCoE packets are terminated at the fabric interconnect, no northbound FCoE packets transmitted from UCS Options FC Switching Mode UCS FI has limited FC switching features, no zoning configuration Must still have upstream MDS or Nexus FC switch via FC Uplink Direct Connect from Fabric Interconnect to Storage Array(s) FCoE target Use of FCoE Storage Targets with UCS Limited interoperability with Storage ecosystem

16 UCS Storage Defaults and Recommendations for NAS Default (recommended) - End Host Mode Superior traffic engineering - Native L2 multipathing; no spanning-tree Easier integration into network 1.4 Introduced Appliance Ports which allow direct connect NAS filers Options - Ethernet Switching Mode As of 1.4 no storage based reasons to use this mode Previous releases required switching mode for direct connect NAS

17 UCS Connectivity Summary LAN CLOUD SAN Switch Upstream Switch in NPIV Mode FC STORAGE NAS STORAGE LAN Switch UCS Ethernet in EHM UCS FC in NPV Mode UCS Fabric Interconnect Access Layer LAN & SAN Unified Fabric (FCoE)

18 Upstream Connectivity SAN Uplinks, Port Channels and Trunks

19 FC Uplink VSAN Membership Default SAN integration is very straightforward: Connect UCS to external SAN switch (MDS / Brocade) Make FC uplink member of one and only one VSAN No F_Port or NP_Port trunking by default

20 FC Port Trunking (Multiple VSANs per Link) Provide isolation to SAN traffic over the same physical FC link Help consolidate FC infrastructure vhbas can be on different VSANs Uplink FC ports will be in NPV mode (N- Port) by default All VSANs will be trunked on every uplink FC port Selecting a subset of VSANs for individual uplink ports not supported Scalability: Max of 32 VSANs per UCS system VSAN trunking supported in FC switch mode as well VSAN Trunking is not available for direct connect FC (or FCoE) Storage Port types SAN A SAN B vfcs VSAN 100 VSAN 200 VSAN 300 VSAN 400

21 FC Port Channels Aggregate and maximize available bandwidth while maintaining isolation Increases resiliency and guard against port failures Up to 16 FC ports can be aggregated together for a single port channel Different combination of FC ports from different expansion modules on the FI can be placed on the same port channel vfcs In case of port speed mismatch port channel forces port speed to highest commonly supported speed VSANs can be trunked over the port channel Port Channel VSAN 100 VSAN 200 VSAN 300 VSAN trunking and port channel supported for both NPV and switch mode FI operation FC Port channeling is not available for direct connect FC Storage Port types SAN A SAN B VSAN 400

22 How FC Trunking Is Enabled (Global) Global Setting for both FIs Default is Not enabled

23 Creation and Management of FC Port Channels

24 Fabric Interconnects FC and Direct Storage Connectivity Options

VSAN to vhba s Assign vhba Placement Select or Create Boot Policy Assign

25 FC SAN Boot Create Service Profile Configure Storage (simple or expert) Create vhba s (1, 2, or more (M81KR)) Assign Initiator WWPN (manual or pool) Assign VSAN to vhba s Assign vhba Placement Select or Create Boot Policy Assign Target WWPN and LUNID Associate Server Zone Mask Boot to vmedia Install Drivers and OS

Enable Direct Connection of FC/FCOE Storage Customer benefits Support to directly connect FC/ FCoE storage to 6100 End to end FCoE topologies possible Lower cost point for small deployments (no

26 Enable Direct Connection of FC/FCOE Storage Customer benefits Support to directly connect FC/ FCoE storage to 6100 End to end FCoE topologies possible Lower cost point for small deployments (no access layer FC switches) FCoE Storage FC Storage Feature details Support for NetApp and EMC direct attached storage Ability to turn On/Off Fibre Channel switching mode Zoning configuration not exposed with UCS Manager Zoning must be inherited from upstream switch Ethernet and FC switching modes are independent UCS 6100 UCS 6100 UCS B-Series

on array Storage FCoE Port direct connect this port to FCoE port on

27 UCS Direct Connect Storage Three UCS port types related to direct storage capability Storage FC Port direct connect this port to FC port on array Storage FCoE Port direct connect this port to FCoE port on array Appliance Port - direct connect this port to 10G Ethernet port on array

28 UCS Manager View of New Ports

FCoE Storage FCoE SAN Edge A SAN Edge B UCS 6100 UCS 6100 Security via Zoneset

29 Hybrid Topology with Direct-Attach and SAN SAN Fabric Storage Arrays Fibre Channel Direct Attach Fabric A Core Fabric B Ethernet Unified I/O FC Storage FCoE Storage FCoE SAN Edge A SAN Edge B UCS 6100 UCS 6100 Security via Zoneset Merge AND Security via LUN Masking LUN Masking Always Used to Some Extent UCS B-Series

30 How to Place FI into FC Switching Mode This operation results in both FIs going into reboot cycles which takes 15 min or so, system wide downtime, by design When FC switch mode is turned on, all the FC ports come up in TE mode

Configuring an FC Storage Port To connect an FC storage device directly into one of the 6100 s FC port, the user must configure the port as an FC storage port The VSAN is configured under

31 Configuring an FC Storage Port To connect an FC storage device directly into one of the 6100 s FC port, the user must configure the port as an FC storage port The VSAN is configured under the Storage Cloud object Internally, the port is configured as follows: As a F_Port As an access port The speed is kept as auto The user is also allowed to select a named VSAN for that port.

32 Configuring an FC Storage Port (GUI)

33 Configuring a VSAN on an FC Port (GUI)

34 Configuring an FCoE Storage Port (GUI)

35 Configuring an FCoE Storage Port (Cont.) Since the Ethernet port is configured as trunk, a native VLAN must be configured on that port. The FCoE VLAN ID can not be the same as the native VLAN ID User is not requested to provide a native VLAN value. An arbitrary VLAN (4048) was chosen and is always used as the native VLAN for FCoE storage ports unless changed

36 FCoE Port Must Be Assigned to a VSAN

37 IP-based Storage Appliance Ports and iscsi

UCS Manager Appliance Ports What is an Ethernet Appliance A specialized device for use on a Ethernet network, for example Network Attached Storage, iscsi, security appliances, Nexus 1010 What

38 UCS Manager Appliance Ports What is an Ethernet Appliance A specialized device for use on a Ethernet network, for example Network Attached Storage, iscsi, security appliances, Nexus 1010 What qualifies to be an appliance An Appliance is a specialized external host, does not run STP (today only NetApp and EMC IP storage devices qualified) Purpose of Appliance Port Connect Ethernet appliances only! Do Not to use this port type for switch connectivity to avoid traffic loops

39 Appliance Ports How to Configure

Appliance Port Exposed Settings QoS per port settings, normal UCS QoS constructs Manual (static) pinning using pin groups for border port selection

40 Appliance Port Exposed Settings QoS per port settings, normal UCS QoS constructs Manual (static) pinning using pin groups for border port selection Select which VLANs can traverse this port Optionally specify the destination MAC address of the filer. Some Filers do not broadcast their MAC address

41 VLANs and Appliance Ports Similar to VSAN concept, there are two scopes Traditional, LAN Cloud Appliance Cloud with scope restricted to appliance ports and associated VLANs Use the same VLAN ID in both scopes

42 iscsi Feature Overview

43 iscsi Boot Flow Create iscsi vnics Create iscsi boot policy Provide UCSM with iscsi boot information Target ip, iqn Initiator ip/mask/gw, iqn vmedia map the OS and drivers Adapter successfully initializes Install OS and Drivers (if required) 43

44 Storage Vendor Support UCS 1.4 Direct Connect only support EMC and NetApp for all topologies (FC, FCoE, NAS) We may add more vendors as a function of time given business case justifications iscsi Boot will only support EMC and NetApp Arrays We may add more vendors as a function of time given business case justifications Please Consult the these resources B_rel2.02.pdf

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46 Presentation_ID

UCS Supported Storage Architectures and Best Practices with Storage

UCS Supported Storage Architectures and Best Practices with Storage First Things First: Debunking a Myth Today (June 2012 UCS 2.01x) there is no FCoE northbound of UCS unless you really, really, really